After-School Programs Can Help Teens at Risk of Dropping Out

The hours between 3-7 p.m. can be risky for many high school students, as they are often alone and unsupervised.

Violent juvenile crimes occur most frequently in the hours immediately following the end of school on school days, according to federal data.

After-school programs -- long an option for working parents of younger children -- can be an important tool in preventing at-risk teens from dropping out.

"We have to always keep them active and they have to always be participating in something or else they can go in a different direction," says Amber May, programs director of Operation Shoestring.

The small nonprofit in central Mississippi works with Lanier High School in Jackson on an after-school program for teens.

[Find out how public-private ties can help prevent high school dropouts.]

"Being on a robotics team is more interesting than being a member of a gang," she says. "Learning how to start your own business is more interesting than just going home and not necessarily doing what you are supposed to do."

About 2 million high school students participate in an after-school program, according to a report released last month by the Afterschool Alliance, which advocates for quality, affordable after-school programs.

While the specifics of after-school programs vary greatly across the U.S., many offer homework help, career exploration and other academic enrichment opportunities that may not fit into the traditional school day -- think learning Mandarin Chinese or computer coding.

"Generally, when you think of after-school you wouldn't think of the school football team," says Jodi Grant, executive director of the Afterschool Alliance. Though there are programs that offer students opportunities to play sports, she says, and the environment is usually much less competitive.

Students who participate in what are known as expanded learning opportunities -- which includes after-school programs -- show higher rates of school attendance, lower dropout rates and improved attitudes toward school, according to a 2011 report.

Grant says that after-school programs can be a successful dropout prevention tool because they address three key indicators of students leaving school -- attendance, behavior and course completion.

"You have to go to school to participate in after-school," she says. "There's just a direct correlation."

Besides giving students something to look forward to when coming to school, students in after-school have less opportunity to be involved in illegal activities, such as drug use and gang involvement, during the critical hours immediately following school, she says. Grant says teachers reported students in after-school programs improved their behavior in class.

Plus, the additional tutoring and homework help often provided in after-school programs can help students improve their grades, Grant says.

[Read about how high schools and districts are working to boost graduation rates higher. ]

"We had students who have not been motivated before, but because they are in the after-school program their academics improve," says May, of Operation Shoestring.

May says that typically 100 percent of the students in Lanier's after-school program, which has about 125 participants, graduate. The school typically graduates about 65 percent of its seniors -- significantly below the nationwide graduation rate of about 80 percent.

But after-school programs are just one component of dropout prevention, says Gary Chapman, who oversees program quality and expansion at Communities In Schools, a dropout prevention organization.

"There is no silver bullet to making sure that kids are going to graduate," says Chapman. After-school programs allow students to build the personal relationships they need, he says, but are just one aspect of dropout prevention.

And while after-school programs have shown proven benefits, demand is not being met. More than 4.6 million high school students not currently enrolled in an after-school program would participate if one were available, according to the Afterschool Alliance's analysis.

"There is such need for more of these high school programs that are really thoughtful and creative," says Grant.

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Alexandra Pannoni is an education staff writer at U.S. News. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at apannoni@usnews.com.