Finding What Works for Middle Schoolers

With a volunteer teacher from Eastway Middle School, students learn about symbolism through art. Here students paint a mural representing their dreams for the future.

After two years of studying evidence-based after-school programs in North Carolina and South Carolina, The Duke Endowment has committed $1.5 million over five years to help expand Citizen Schools in the Carolinas.

Insights

This initiative has had two phases. Although Phase II is only in its middle stages, several lessons are emerging that will shape future activities.

Phase I

Obstacles to Licensure

Facilities present a significant obstacle when assessing a program's ability to become licensed or accredited. Programs that lease their sites often have no power to improve their facilities. Those that own their sites often have no funding for improvements. In many cases during Phase I, after-school programs that met or exceeded licensure or accreditation requirements in every other area were stymied by the requirements for facilities.

Measuring Quality

Licensure may not be the best measure of quality for after-school programming. Aside from the facilities issue mentioned above, North Carolina's five-star rating system appears to provide a fair measure of quality. In South Carolina, however, the ABC Enhanced certification system appears to impose unrealistic or irrelevant guidelines on after-school programs. The School-Age Care Environment Rating Scale (SACERS) shows promise for providing a beneficial and flexible criteria for quality that could be applied in both states.

Phase II

Weighing Quality Versus Quantity

In choosing a strategy for exploring after-school care for middle school students, The Duke Endowment had to weigh the options of reaching a smaller number of students through Citizen Schools or a much larger number through other established organizations such as the YMCA, YWCA or Boys and Girls Clubs. While there is certainly an argument for broader reach, the data-driven, documented positive outcomes of Citizen Schools was more in keeping with the Endowment's desire to produce quantitative evidence of effectiveness.

A Proven Urban Model in a Rural Setting

As Citizen Schools expands its number of sites under this project, both it and The Duke Endowment were eager to test the model in a rural setting. Henderson, in Vance County, which has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy and dropouts in the state, is the first rural site for Citizen Schools in North Carolina. Although this site is relatively new, the team has been pleasantly surprised by the availability of highly qualified and enthusiastic staff. Interestingly, the staff in Henderson are on average, older and more experienced than most staff in the Citizen Schools urban model. Unexpected challenges also have arisen, such as a higher level of apathy among parents and students about education in general. Despite differences in rural and urban settings, Citizen Schools is committed to maintaining the integrity of its model at every site.

Pros and Cons of Branded After-School Programs

One of the strengths of Citizen Schools is its strongly branded and proprietary program, which ensures effective performance at each Citizen Schools site. However, the Citizen Schools model is—by design—limited to Citizen Schools sites, and training other organizations in this model is not an option. In order to expand the number of quality middle-school after-school programs in the Carolinas, The Duke Endowment is working with larger providers, such as Boys and Girls Clubs of America, to develop specific interventions for improving educational performance of children in after-school programs. As part of this work, the Endowment will survey best practices and develop a new module to test and pilot in a small number of Boys and Girls Clubs. If successful, this new module may be applicable to a broader range of Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCAs and YWCAs.

Impact

As of January 2009, Citizen Schools in North Carolina had grown from two sites in Charlotte, to five sites: three in Charlotte, one in Durham and one in Henderson. These five sites serve approximately 500 children. Plans are underway to open seven to 10 more sites in North Carolina and South Carolina by 2015.

A student learns the basics of outdoor survival during a camping apprenticeship at Eastway Middle School.

Improvements in Academic Performance

Data from a longitudinal study conducted by Citizen Schools at its first North Carolina site indicate that its graduates increased their state exam proficiency over time, academically outperform their peers by high school, and are 24 percent more likely to graduate from high school than their peers. Initial grade data in North Carolina show that 54 percent of Citizen Schools students either maintained a passing grade or improved a failing grade to a passing grade in math and 67 percent did the same in English. In addition, Citizen School campuses averaged 92 percent attendance in 2007–2008.

Positive Influence on Schools and Communities

The projects and activities of Citizen Schools also have a positive influence on their schools as a whole, through service projects such as murals completed at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School and Eastway Middle School in Charlotte. Citizen Schools also often increases parental engagement in their children's Citizen Schools program and in the school in general.

In addition, Citizen Schools adds value beyond its immediate programs by raising awareness of and advocating for middle school programs at the state level. Since beginning its work in North Carolina, Citizen Schools has been part of a pilot project to help prevent dropouts in Durham, using its program in middle schools to feed participants into another program for high schools. Citizen Schools presented this concept to members of the North Carolina General Assembly and successfully acquired state funding for its portion of the project.

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