Synopses & Reviews
This timely volume proposes that to fully understand, and then intervene to improve participation in out-of-school (OST) programs, issues of access, enrollment, and engagement must be considered, and in the context of program quality. Contributing authors unpack the construct of participation, posing a three-part equation, participation = enrollment + attendance + engagement, and examine these three critical components of overall participation in out-of-school time programs. Chapters provide research-based strategies on how to increase participation, and how to define, measure, and study it, drawing from the latest developmental research and evaluation literature.
Volume editors Heather B. Weiss, Priscilla M. D. Little, and Suzanne M. Bouffard outline the main theme with an introductory review of participation as a three-part construct of enrollment, attendance, and engagement and show how this understanding of participation can help stakeholders to maximize participation in and benefits from programs. Other contributors discuss research in OST from the perspective of youth; similarities and differences in participation and outcomes across social ecologies; how youth and family characteristics can identify which youth are most likely to participate in organized activities; recruitment and retention strategies for OST programs; measuring attendance in OST programs; and encouraging progression from attendance to active engagement
The editors and contributors to this volume provide compelling information that encourages practitioners, researchers and evaluators, policymakers, and funders, all working to improve the lives of young people through regular, meaningful attendance in the diverse set of out-of-school time programs operating throughout this country, to better understand participation—and how to use that understanding to increase enrollment, measure and sustain attendance, and engage young people to reap the full benefits of “being there.”
This is the 105th volume of the Jossey-Bass quarterly report series New Directions for Youth Development.
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Table of Contents
Editor-in-Chief’s Notes: The Significance of Enrollment, Attendance, and Engagement (Gil G. Noam).
Editors’ Notes (Heather B. Weiss, Priscilla M. D. Little, Suzanne M. Bouffard).
Executive Summary.
1. More than just being there: Balancing the participation equation (Heather B. Weiss, Priscilla M. D. Little, Suzanne M. Bouffard)
Participation in out-of-school-time programs confers many benefits for young people, but many youth do not participate in programs. Understanding participation as a three-part construct of enrollment, attendance, and engagement can help stakeholders to maximize participation in and benefits from programs.
2. To participate or not to participate: That is the question (Lynne M. Borden, Daniel F. Perkins, Francisco A. Villarruel, Margaret R. Stone)
Research from the perspectives of youth can illuminate reasons that they do or do not enroll in out-of-school-time programs. This information can help increase program participation, particularly for ethnic minority youth, who are traditionally underserved in programs.
3. Predicting participation and outcomes in out-of-school activities: Similarities and differences across social ecologies (Sandra D. Simpkins, Marika Ripke, Aletha C. Huston, Jacquelynne S. Eccles)
Youth and family characteristics predict which youth are most likely to participate in organized out-of-school-time activities and how likely they are to benefit.
4. Recruitment and retention strategies for out-of-school-time programs (Sherri C. Lauver, Priscilla M. D. Little
Out-of-school-time programs can increase youth participation using a set of promising strategies and a school and community-wide commitment to implement them.
5. Present and accounted for: Measuring attendance in out-of-school-time programs (Leila M. Fiester, Sandra D. Simpkins, Suzanne M. Bouffard)
Reasons and methods for collecting attendance data in out-of-school-time programs depend on program goals, characteristics, and design. Four indicators of attendance can help programs collect these important data.
6. The ABCs of engagement in out-of-school-time programs (W. Todd Bartko)
How do we get from attendance in out-of-school-time programs to active engagement? Research in schools proposes that engagement is composed of three “ABC” components—affect, behavior, and cognition—and suggests how programs can use this model to foster engagement.
7. Activities, engagement, and emotion in after-school programs (and elsewhere) (Deborah Lowe Vandell, David J. Shernoff, Kim M. Pierce, Daniel M. Bolt, Kimberly Dadisman, B. Bradford Brown)
Experience sampling methodology was used to measure engagement during the after-school hours. Experiences that combined high levels of intrinsic motivation with concerted effort and enjoyment occurred more often at after-school programs than elsewhere.
Index.