Evaluation of New Jersey After 3: First-Year Report on Programs and Participants

To expand and improve after-school opportunities for children, New Jersey After 3 (NJ After 3) has sought to develop and implement a comprehensive system of high-quality after-school programs throughout the state. Specifically, NJ After 3 seeks to increase the number of after-school programs in New Jersey that provide a safe environment for children during after-school hours, offer enriching academic activities and homework assistance, and expose children to nurturing individuals and meaningful experiences that promote intellectual, physical, social, and artistic development. Under an agreement with NJ After 3, Policy Studies Associates, Inc., is conducting a three-year, longitudinal evaluation of the statewide initiative. This report describes what the evaluation has learned about the program goals, participants, staff, activities, operations, and short-term outcomes of this initiative based on data collected from August 2005 through July 2006. This first-year report is organized into seven main sections. The first section describes the evaluation design and processes in more detail. The second section discusses the program-level goals of the initiative and of individual programs. The third section describes student participants' characteristics and their program attendance patterns. Section four provides details about programs' activities, structural features, and resources. Sections five and six present baseline data on key program and participant outcomes emerging during the first phase of this three-year evaluation. The final section summarizes preliminary findings regarding structures and practices that are likely to affect the achievement of program goals. This discussion points out program challenges and weaknesses identified by staff, students, and parents. A technical appendix describes the method used in selecting the in-depth study sample. (Contains 28 exhibits and 4 footnotes.) [This report was submitted to New Jersey After 3 by Policy Studies Associates, Inc.]