Expertise Area
Out-of-School Time
RFA has an expansive portfolio of out-of-school time (OST) program and system-level research and evaluation built over the last decade that includes local Philadelphia-based evaluations as well as national multi-site OST research initiatives. We conduct research and provide actionable feedback to OST program and system-level collaborators. RFA prioritizes examining program quality and understanding contextual factors that contribute to or impede access, equity and quality implementation in OST.
We have conducted complex research studies of systems-level (city-wide and district-wide) education and youth development initiatives in major cities across the country, including projects in Atlanta, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Newark, New York City, and Philadelphia.
Since 2011 RFA has served as the evaluator of 21st Century Community Learning Centers for upwards of 19 afterschool providers where we assess program implementation and outcomes and then summarize findings and provide recommendations for future programming. In addition, RFA is partnering with Mathematica Policy Research to conduct a federally funded national study of 21st Century Community Learning Centers and leading a research study for the Wallace Foundation to examine system-level out-of-school time coordination efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our deep understanding of OST programming can be seen in our projects and reports. We use our data to make recommendations and guide decisions affecting students, families, and teachers. OST programming can play a crucial part in the healthy development of children and youth and that is why we are dedicated to using research to support access, quality and equity in OST systems and programs.
Related Projects
Out-of-School Time Coordination: Infrastructure for Supporting Healthy OST Ecosystems
Read More Out-of-School TimeStatewide Studies of Educational Outcomes of Boys & Girls Clubs Members
Read More Out-of-School TimeEvaluation of K-3 Literacy Programming in Philadelphia
Read More K-12Out-of-School Time (OST) Coordination: Infrastructure for Supporting Healthy OST Ecosystems
Read More Out-of-School TimeEvaluation of 21st Century Community Learning Centers
Read More Out-of-School TimeDocumentation of Virtual and Hybrid Summer Experiences for the Philadelphia Youth Network (PYN)
Read More Out-of-School TimeEvaluation of Engineering Women in Natural Science (EngWINS), an Afterschool STEM Mentoring program
Read More Out-of-School TimeAfterschool Programs: A Review of Evidence Under the Every Student Succeeds Act
Read More Out-of-School TimeAn Evaluation of Congreso de Latinos Unidos’ Exito Program at Kensington CAPA High School
Read More Out-of-School TimeCommunity Perceptions, Quality Assurance, and Literacy Practices in the City of Philadelphia’s Out-of-School-Time System
Read More Out-of-School TimeEvaluating Women in Natural Sciences (WINS) for the Academy of Natural Sciences
Read More K-12An Evaluation of Parents as Teachers: Philadelphia Parents as Teachers (PPAT)
Read More Out-of-School TimeAfter-School Science Programming in West Virginia: An Evaluation Funded by the National Science Foundation
Read More Out-of-School TimeAn Evaluation of Family Centers: School District of Philadelphia
Read More Out-of-School TimeA Capacity Building Project with Art Educators: National Arts and Education Consortium (NAEC)
Read More K-12A Study of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association (LSNA): The Logan Square Neighborhood Association and The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Read More K-12A Pilot Study of Young Children’s Mathematical Learning In and Out of School
Read More Out-of-School TimeAn Action Research Project: Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Project with the Philadelphia Schools
Read More Out-of-School TimeAn Evaluation of the School District of Philadelphia’s Faith Partnerships Program
Read More K-1221st Century Grants: Tracking the Implementation and Success of Academically-Oriented After-School Programs
Read More Out-of-School TimeAfterschool Arts Programming in the Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs of America: A Mixed-Methods Evaluation
Read More Out-of-School TimeWhen the Maker Movement Meets STEAM: Evaluating Maker Jawn in Philadelphia’s Free Library
Read More Out-of-School TimeRelated Publications
Publication
Virtual Approaches Hold Promise for Expanding Afterschool Art Programming
Four Boys & Girls Clubs implementing high-quality art skill development classes for tweens and teens experimented with five different virtual approaches that hold promise for expanding programming. This brief describes three approaches that reach young…
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Top 5 Insights from RFA’s Community Research Partnership: Becoming a Community-Engaged Research Organization
We at Research for Action are committed to becoming a community-engaged research institution, with the goal of having our work be grounded in principles of community empowerment, collaboration, and social change within K-12 education. We’re…
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Setting the Stage: Practical Ideas for Implementing High-Quality Afterschool Arts Programs
Youth benefit from involvement in the arts but youth in historically marginalized communities and under resourced communities often have fewer opportunities to engage in high-quality arts programming due to cuts in arts education that disproportionately…
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State Funding to Support Out-of-School Time Programming in Pennsylvania
Out-of-school-time (OST) refers to programs that offer students activities after school and/or during the summer. Despite evidence of significant benefits and a clear demand from families, Pennsylvania has no dedicated state funding to provide OST…
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Addressing Structural Barriers to High School Graduation: Examining the Impacts of the Éxito program at Kensington Creative and Performing Arts
Earning a high school diploma is a milestone that has been linked to many later life outcomes, from employment to incarceration to physical health, and impacts society as a whole through tax revenues and government…
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Costs And Quality in Virtual/Hybrid Summer Youth Employment Programming
Since 2003, Philadelphia Youth Network (PYN), a Philadelphia-based non-profit organization, has provided young people summer employment opportunities through the WorkReady program. In Spring 2020, as a result of the impact of COVID-19, PYN pivoted WorkReady…
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Afterschool Programs: A Review of Evidence Under the Every Student Succeeds Act
Afterschool Programs: A Review of Evidence Under the Every Student Succeeds Act reviews research from 2000 to 2017 and finds 128 afterschool programs with research that meets the requirements of ESSA’s top three tiers. Of…
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Afterschool Evidence Guide: A Companion to A Review of Evidence Under the Every Student Succeeds Act
The Afterschool Evidence Guide, a companion to Afterschool Programs, provides detailed, individual descriptions of the afterschool programs with evidence that meets the research requirements of ESSA’s top three tiers. The guide also includes summaries of…
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Designing for Engagement: The Experiences of Tweens in the Boys & Girls Clubs’ Youth Arts Initiative
A 2013 Wallace-commissioned report pointed to 10 principles that small, high-quality, arts-focused youth organizations appear to share. Four years later, RFA’s investigation into Wallace’s Youth Arts Initiative showed that the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA), a multi-faceted…
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Executive Summary: Raising the Barre & Stretching the Canvas
As part of an ongoing, multi-million dollar Wallace Foundation initiative to improve and expand arts learning opportunities for young people, the Wallace Foundation, in partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA), developed…
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Supporting Literacy in Out-of-School Time: An Examination of OST Early Literacy Practices in Philadelphia
Philadelphia’s Out-of-School Time (OST) system has identified K-3rd grade literacy support as the focus of the first phase of its strategic plan, launched in 2017. Research shows that OST programs can have an impact on…
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Adding Another Voice: Caretakers’ Experiences Utilizing Philadelphia’s Out-of-School Time Programs
Nationwide, there is a high demand for out-of-school time (OST) programs, and this demand has not been fully met—particularly in high-poverty areas. Information about caretakers’ and children’s OST needs can help citywide systems better target…
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Raising the Barre & Stretching the Canvas: Implementing High-Quality Arts Programming in a National Youth Serving Organization
As part of an ongoing, multi-million dollar Wallace Foundation initiative to improve and expand arts learning opportunities for young people, the Wallace Foundation, in partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA), developed…
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The Fiscal Impact of Charter School Expansion: Calculations in Six Pennsylvania School Districts
As charter school enrollment in Pennsylvania rises, understanding the fiscal impact of charter school expansion is critical for school districts to accurately budget and to anticipate current and future costs. In order to calculate the…
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Supporting Literacy in Out-of-School Time: Summary of Evidence
The City of Philadelphia’s Citywide Out‐of‐School‐Time (OST) Initiative was launched in February 2017 to better coordinate and focus the capacities of OST programs on the needs of the city’s children. The first phase of this initiative…
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Scanning the System: Support for Quality Programming in Philadelphia’s Out-of-School Time
Approximately a quarter of a million school-aged children and youth live in Philadelphia. No exact count exists of how many participate in Out-of-School Time (OST) programs. The City of Philadelphia estimates that 187,000 children and…
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Charter School Special Education Funding in Pennsylvania
For many years there have been calls to reform how Pennsylvania funds special education both for school districts and charter schools. While some modest changes were recently legislated, they applied exclusively to new state special…
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Racial Disparities in Educational Opportunities in Pennsylvania: A First Look at New Civil Rights Data
We know that segregation and educational inequity are harmful to students and weaken school systems. Yet 62 years after Brown v. Board of Education rendered the doctrine of “separate but equal” unconstitutional, it has been…
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Looking for Indicators of the Impact of Community Organizing for School Reform
This report series, produced through the Education Organizing Indicators Project, presents a methodology for documenting the contribution of community organizing to school reform. The Project stemmed from the perceived need to make the positive impact…
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Summary of 21st Century OST Learning Community Workshops
During the summer and fall of 2015, RFA hosted three Learning Community Workshops to provide opportunities for Philadelphia’s 21st CCLC providers to further discuss the findings from the “citywide” report as well as their implications…
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Creating a Comprehensive Picture of School Performance
For more than two decades, states have been required to report publicly on the academic performance of schools and districts. These school rating systems have received increased public attention amid growing concerns about the prevalence and…
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Clients, Consumers or Collaborators?: Parents and their Roles in School Reform During Children Achieving, 1995-2000
The School District of Phila’s reform plan, Children Achieving, based the new leadership roles for parents on the belief that ‘fundamental change in the education of children will not occur without a transformation in the…
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Student Achievement in Privately Managed and District-Managed Schools in Philadelphia Since the State Takeover
Following a state takeover of the Philadelphia public schools in 2002, 45 schools were turned over to private managers, making Philadelphia the site of the nation’s largest experiment in the private management of public schools.…
Publication
A Guide to Facilitating Action Research for Youth
This guide, developed for Youth United for Change, to facilitate action research for youth includes a case study of Oakland youth and provides a framework for supporting youth action research. The guide describes action research,…
Publication
Meanings of Cultural Participation at the Neighborhood Level: A Focus Group Analysis
This report was prepared for the Philadelphia Cultural Benchmark Project, a collaborative project between Research for Action, Audience Insight LLC, and the University of Pennsylvania’s Social Impacts of the Arts Project (SIAP). It draws from…
Publication
Numeracy Practices and Classroom Imperatives: Chutes and Ladders Travels between Home and School
This conference paper reports on a one year pilot study carried out in an elementary school in Philadelphia, located in a low-income working class African American neighborhood. It discusses a young child carrying his mathematical…
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Cultural Leaders’ Reflections on Cultural Participation and Preliminary Research
This report was prepared for the Philadelphia Cultural Benchmark Project, a collaborative project between Research for Action, Audience Insight LLC, and the University of Pennsylvania’s Social Impacts of the Arts Project (SIAP). It draws from…
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Teachers in the School District of Philadelphia: Tables on Teacher Retention and the Distribution of Teachers’ Certification Levels and Experience in the District by School Type, Poverty Level, and School Racial Composition
This report summarizes findings from an analysis carried out by the authors on a data set representing all teachers employed in the School District of Philadelphia over the three-year period 1999-2000 to 2001-2002. In addition,…
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Art Lessons from NYC: Use City’s Rich Resources to Restore Arts Education
This article discusses the revitalization of arts education in New York City’s public schools after budget cuts decimated arts programs years ago. Strong intermediary organizations advocating for the arts and brokering vibrant partnerships and a…
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Teacher Quality Inequitable in Philadelphia’s Schools
This article reports on a series of teacher quality reports published by Research for Action. According to a new analysis of data on Philadelphia teachers, schools that have a student population with 10 percent or…
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Home to School: Numeracy Practices and Mathematical Identities
Drawing on a perspective of mathematics as situated social practice, we focus on 4 children in an urban preschool classroom and follow those children between home and school sites to shed light on urban children’s…
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Teachers and Students Learning through Service: A Report on Need in Deed’s Developing Work with Teachers
Research for Action (RFA) conducted an evaluation of Need in Deed (NID)’s work with teachers during the 2006-07 school year. The mixed method evaluation aimed to learn more about the impact of the NID’s work…
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State Takeover, School Restructuring, Private Management, and Student Achievement in Philadelphia
Following a state takeover of the Philadelphia public schools in 2002, 45 schools were turned over to private managers, making Philadelphia the site of the nation’s largest experiment in the private management of public schools.…