Afterschool Alliance Research
Informing providers, advocates, and policymakers for 20 years
Delve into our vast collection of research resources that show afterschool programs are keeping kids safe, inspiring learning, and helping working families across the country.
An integral component of Afterschool Alliance’s mission to ensure that all children have access to affordable, quality afterschool programs is research that assesses and examines the ways children spend their time during the afterschool hours, the opportunities afterschool programs provide the children and families in their communities, and the public support for these programs.
This section contains research materials the Afterschool Alliance has produced over the past 15 years. Find the resource that best fits your needs by searching by document type or by issue area. If you are interested in learning more about afterschool programs, explore Afterschool Essentials, or find out how many children are in afterschool programs by visiting the America After 3PM page. You can also search by issue topic and learn more about afterschool programs supporting young people in variety of areas and subjects, ranging from the arts to health and wellness to STEM.
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Afterschool Supports Children’s Well-Being and Healthy Development (May 2023) Recent studies describe the rise in young people across the country experiencing anxiety, depression, loneliness, stress, and aggression. At the same time, research has found that this time period—from birth through young adulthood—is “the second most critical period of development” in a person’s life and is shaped by the environments that they move through. This fact sheet highlights the essential role that afterschool and summer programs play to support the healthy development of young people, serving as a safe space that fosters belonging, develops supportive relationships with peers and adult mentors, encourages healthy behaviors, and helps young people build and cultivate the skills necessary to navigate through the struggles and challenges they may come up against in life. Health and Wellness |
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Thriving in Afterschool: Promoting Healthy Futures for Young People (June 2021) Afterschool and summer enrichment programs have been a consistent source of support to young people and families who are juggling remote school or work, dealing with the health and economic stressors created by the pandemic, and managing the toll that COVID-19 is taking on their mental health and overall well-being. Throughout 2020 and into 2021, afterschool and summer learning programs have risen to meet the needs of their students and families, finding ways to support them as the nation continues to navigate the short- and long-term effects of the pandemic. Health and Wellness |
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Afterschool: Fostering Protective Factors that Can Last a Lifetime (September 2019) New research tells us that the adolescent years are a highly important developmental period for brain growth and “the second most critical period of development.” However, there are factors at the individual and community levels that impact the development process. This includes both risk factors that increase the likelihood that one will take part in unhealthy behaviors, such as substance misuse, and protective factors that spur healthy behaviors and development. This issue brief, accompanied by in-depth afterschool program profiles, examines the way in which afterschool and summer learning programs promote protective factors to help young people to build up the skills and competencies they will need to navigate life’s challenges and become the country’s next generation of leaders, thinkers, and trailblazers.
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A Big-Picture Approach to Wellness: Afterschool Supporting Strong Bodies and Minds (September 2018) A comprehensive approach to wellness—which includes healthy eating and physical activity and extends to additional aspects of health, such as social and emotional skills and competencies—can provide the necessary supports for healthy children grow into healthy adults. This issue brief details the national public health issues children are facing today and discusses the afterschool field’s ability to provide a place where children feel safe, are surrounded by supportive mentors, have access to nutritious foods, are able to be active, can form relationships with their peers, learn how to set positive goals for themselves, and feel empowered to take charge of their lives. Accompanying this brief are five in-depth afterschool program profiles that highlight the different roles programs play to support their students’ physical and social and emotional health:
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Kids on the Move: Afterschool Programs Promoting Healthy Eating and Physical Activity (March 2015) This report discusses the current state of healthy eating and physical activity in afterschool, identifies areas for improvement, and provides recommendations moving forward. Kids on the Move is presented as part of the third edition of America After 3PM, which spans a decade of household survey data chronicling how children spend the hours between 3 and 6 p.m. Health and Wellness |
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The Afterschool Alliance is working to ensure that all children have access to affordable, quality afterschool programs. Afterschool programs are critical to children and families today, yet the need for programs is far from being met. Learn more
