Welcome to the Sprockets Resource Library
There is a lot of compelling, quality research being conducted on the positive impact that quality out-of-school time can make in young people's lives. Here are a few key studies, reports and resources. We also encourage you to browse our original Sprockets Publications.
- Growing Together, Learning Together - The Wallace Foundation
- Measuring Social and Emotional Learning with the Survey of Academic and Youth Outcomes (SAYO)
- The Common Core Standards: What Do They Mean for OST (Devaney & Yohalem, 2012)
- Once We Know It, We Can Grow It A Framework for Quality Nonformal Learning Opportunities and Youth Work Practice
- Connected Learning: An Agenda for Research and Design
- Edutopia Parents Guide to 21st Century Learning
- 2017 North Star Fellowship Papers
- The Value of OST Progams - (Rand Corporation, 2017)
- Kernels of Practice for SEL (Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2017)
- SEL Out-of-School Time Settings (Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2017)
- Arts Integration Research through ESSA (American Institutes for Research, 2017)
- How the ESSA Can Support SEL (Rand Corporation, 2017)
- Putting Data to Work for Young People: A Ten-Step Guide for Expanded Learning Intermediaries (Rand Corporation, 2019
Check out these sites for even more research and information
- National Institute on Out-of-School Time
- Afterschool Alliance
- Wallace Foundation
- Ignite Afterschool, MN's Afterschool Network
- Every Hour Counts
Fast Facts
- Young people spend more than 80% of their annual waking hours outside of school. This represents a tremendous opportunity to provide experiences that will enrich the lives of young people and prepare them for success.
- A review of over 50 studies of afterschool programs suggests that quality afterschool programs improved school attendance, engagement in learning, test scores and grades. (The Afterschool Alliance, 2008.)
- A decade of research, evaluations, and review of literature provides powerful evidence that afterschool programs make a difference in the lives of youth who attend. Afterschool programs improve academic performance, social and developmental outcomes, contribute to healthy lifestyle options, and prevent many risky behaviors. The key factor in supporting positive outcomes include access to and sustained participations in quality programming with strong partnerships with schools, families and the community. (Harvard Family Research Project, 2008.)
- Every dollar invested in high quality afterschool programs saves tax payers an average of $3. (New York State Afterschool Network, 2008.)
- High quality afterschool programs can have significant, positive effects on student outcomes, whereas low quality programs can fail to show positive effects or even have negative impacts. (Afterschool Investments Project, 2006.)
- All young people experience learning losses when they do not engage in educational activities during the summer. Research spanning 100 years shows that students typically score lower on standardized tests at the end of summer vacation than they do on the same tests at the beginning of the summer (White, 1906; Heyns, 1978; Entwisle & Alexander 1992; Cooper, 1996; Downey et al, 2004, National Summer Learning Association).
- More than half of the achievement gap between lower- and higher-income youth can be explained by unequal access to summer learning opportunities. As a result, low-income youth are less likely to graduate from high school or enter college (Alexander et al, 2007, National Summer Learning Association).
- Teens who do not participate in afterschool programs are nearly three times more likely to skip classes than teens who do participate. They are also three times more likely to use marijuana or other drugs, and they are more likely to drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes and engage in sexual activity. (YMCA of the USA, March 2001, Afterschool Matters)