The relationship between 21st Century Community Learning Center after -school programs and school achievement in North Carolina: Implication for leaders

The lack of statistical evidence to show that 21st Century Community Learning Center (21st CCLC) funded after-school programs had a relationship with improved school achievement based on state-based standardized tests in North Carolina presented a problem for leaders. However, given the abundance of school achievement data and the presence of forty-two 21 st CCLC funded after-school programs, North Carolina was fertile ground for a quantitative study of the relationship between the 21st CCLC funded after-school programs and school achievement. The primary sample population in this research was 30 elementary public schools in North Carolina that hosted 21st CCLC funded after-school programs. For the purpose of comparing the relationship between 21 st CCLC funded after-school programs and school achievement, there was a secondary sample of 30 comparable elementary public schools in North Carolina that did not have after-school programs. Once a relationship between schools with and without 21st CCLC funded after-school programs was determined, the study only focused on the schools with 21st CCLC funded after-school programs. An after-school survey developed by the RAND Corporation was administered to district-level directors of the 21st CCLC funded after-school programs as well as the site director/supervisor at the school-level. The survey results were coded to help determine the levels of quality (Inadequate, Minimal, Good, Excellent) of three areas of practice in each of the 21 st CCLC funded after-school programs: (a) after-school program staffing, (b) after-school program management, and (c) after-school program community involvement. These areas and their relationship to school achievement were analyzed using multiple regression analysis and analysis of covariance. All of the hypotheses in this study were retained