More than attendance: the importance of after-school program quality

Barton J Hirsch; Megan A Mekinda; Julieann Stawicki

doi:10.1007/s10464-010-9310-4

More than attendance: the importance of after-school program quality

Am J Community Psychol. 2010 Jun;45(3-4):447-52. doi: 10.1007/s10464-010-9310-4.

Authors

Barton J Hirsch¹, Megan A Mekinda, Julieann Stawicki

Affiliation

¹ Program in Human Development and Social Policy, Northwestern University, 2120 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208, USA. bhirsch@northwestern.edu

PMID: 20300823
DOI: 10.1007/s10464-010-9310-4

Abstract

A central theme of the articles featured in this issue is the need to improve the quality of after-school programs. In this commentary, we discuss why student engagement, program characteristics and implementation, staff training, and citywide policy are key considerations in the effort to define and achieve high quality programs for youth.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Community Participation
Faculty / standards
Humans
Policy Making
Program Development
Program Evaluation / standards*
Quality Control
Schools / organization & administration
Schools / standards*
Students