State Afterschool Program Makes a Difference for Students in Utah Affected by Intergenerational Poverty

Press Release

Contact: Cori Groth, UEPC Associate Director, cori.groth@utah.edu

Phone: 801-792-1914

State afterschool program makes a difference for students in Utah affected by intergenerational poverty
Utah Education Policy Center releases new study on afterschool programs

April 19, 2018 – A study by the Utah Education Policy Center found that students who participated in afterschool programs that were designed to serve those affected by intergenerational poverty performed better on year-end state assessments in English language arts, mathematics and science compared to the same students’ performance in the years they did not participate. Moreover, students in these programs also performed better the longer they were in the afterschool program. Students tripled the average academic gains in assessment scores after attending for three years compared to the gains in scores for one year of attendance. View report that contains a longitudinal analysis of student outcomes.

In 2014, the Utah State Legislature passed Senate Bill 43, Intergenerational Poverty Interventions (IGPI) in Public Schools, which was sponsored by Senator Reid and Representative Gibson. SB 43 appropriated annual funding for educational programming outside of the regular school day to combat the negative influences of intergenerational poverty among children. A total of 9,475 students have participated in this grant program since 2014.

“We were thrilled to learn that the investments we have made as a state in supporting students affected by intergenerational poverty have paid off,” said Tracy Gruber, director of the Utah Office of Child Care at the Utah Department of Workforce Services. “This gives us concrete evidence that programs like these are working and should be considered as part of a systemic approach to increasing opportunities for all Utah students, regardless of economic status."

Yongmei Ni, UEPC assistant director and profess in educational leadership and policy, and Wynn Shooter, UEPC assistant director, were the lead investigators for this longitudinal study. They report that the positive and significant results from this study suggest that interventions like the IGPI out-of-school time program are an important piece of a larger system for supporting students and their families affected by intergenerational poverty.

“We know from the research evidence nationally and locally that high quality afterschool programs can make a difference for students’ academic, social and emotional success,” said Shooter. “Now, evidence from the UEPC evaluation confirms that high quality after school programs can make a powerful difference for the students who need support the most in Utah.”

As Shooter noted, the findings from this study have immediate applicability.

“The evaluation results we now have on the impact of this program on students’ academic success can be used by educators and policymakers to leverage resources and design programs that will continue to work for our students statewide.”

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