Evaluations of After-School Programs: A Meta-Evaluation of Methodologies and Narrative Synthesis of Findings
Abstract
Funding for after-school programs has increased dramatically, and there has been a corresponding increase in the need for sound evaluations to document the quality and impact of the programs. A comprehensive search for after-school evaluations was completed in order to conduct a meta-evaluation of evaluation methodologies used and to synthesize the findings of the evaluations. Results of the meta-evaluation indicate that the after-school evaluation reports located for the study demonstrated moderate compliance with The Program Evaluation Standards established by the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation but limited use of research designs that support causal conclusions and insufficient information to allow for meta-analysis of program effects. However, some tentative conclusions can be reached about the effectiveness of after-school programs. Overall, it appears that after-school programs may have positive impacts on participants, but more rigorous research designs are necessary to provide data that clearly document program effects.
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Scott-Little et al. (2002) concluded that after-school programs appear to have positive impacts, but included studies lacked designs for causal inference.
“Scott-Little and colleagues (Scott-Little et al. 2002) concluded in their review of 23 studies that after-school programs appear to have positive impacts on participants, but the included studies lacked the type of research designs and information to allow for making causal inferences.”
From Effects of after-school programs with at-risk youth on attendance and externalizing behaviors: A systematic review and meta-analysis (2015) · cites this paper as Scott-Little et al. 2002
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- Authors
- Scott-Little, C., Hamann, M. S., & Jurs, S. G.
- Affiliations
- The Regional Educational Laboratory at SERVE, P.O. Box 5367, Greensboro, NC 27435, USA,
- Corresponding author
- Scott-Little, Catherine
- Venue
- American Journal of Evaluation
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2002-12
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 387-419
- ISSN
- 1098-2140 (ISSN-L)
- 1557-0878
- OpenAlex
- W2129668972
- Cited by
- 166
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 7
- FWCI
- 4.39
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Journal of Evaluation (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Evaluation and Performance Assessment
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Youth Development and Social Support
- Social Sciences › Education › Education and Vocational Training
- Keywords
- after-school programs, program evaluation, evaluation methodology, meta-evaluation, program evaluation standards, Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation, research design, causal inference, program effectiveness, youth development
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