Investigating Relationships Between Academic Achievement and After School Programs in a High School Environment

The purpose of this study was to investigate if participation in an academically focused after school program could be linked with improved academic achievement as measured by a standardized test. A quantitative experimental design was utilized to explore the topic. The scale scores of participants in an academically focused after school program were compared to non participants to determine if there was a statistical difference between the groups. Additionally, the attendance level of participants in the academically focused after school program was correlated with their scale score on a standardized test in order to the relationship. This study is significant because after school programs have become an important academic and social tool for both the schools and communities. After school programs are one way that the public school systems are meeting emerging academic and social challenges. The amount of capital and human resources invested in after school programs must be examined and justified. The study yielded no statistically significant findings for any of the research questions. The scores of the participants in an academically focused after school program and non participants were not statistically different. Furthermore, the attendance level in the after school program and the scale score were not significantly correlated. Although there were not any significant findings, it is worthy to note that the participants had higher mean scores on the HSAP test when compared to non participants in each of the twelve considered disaggregate groups. Even though the results were not statistically significant, they may be practically significant