Success for At-Risk Students
Overview
Critics often accuse advocates of increased school
funding of “throwing money” at the problem
of student underachievement. However, empirical evidence
shows that if funds are directed to certain purposes
or targeted to certain types of programs, they can contribute
tremendously to student success. The most effective
programs for students at risk of failure tend to be
those that increase the amount of time students spend
learning. Such programs include preschool, intensive,
subject-specific tutoring, extended-day programs, and
summer school.
Preschool Education
Starting school at a younger age gives students more
time to master basic skills and prepares them to learn
effectively once they enter kindergarten. Extensive
evidence indicates that high quality pre-school education
has substantial and long-lasting positive effects on
the academic achievement and social development of students,
particularly those at risk of failure. High quality
pre-school is probably the most effective single program
available for closing achievement gaps. See our overview
on preschool education for more information.
Targeted Tutoring
Targeted tutoring programs aim to make the most out
of the school day by providing lessons tailored to small
groups of students. Although these programs do not increase
the overall amount of instructional time students receive,
they make instruction more effective by keeping students
engaged and focusing on essential skills.
Among the most successful and widely used targeted
tutoring programs are early-grade literacy programs.
For example:
• Reading
Recovery serves about 150,000 low-achieving first-graders
each year in the United States. The program provides
those having the most difficulty grasping basic reading
skills with one-on-one tutoring from specially trained
teachers. The lessons last for a half hour each day
for 12 to 20 weeks. As soon as students demonstrate
that they can read on grade-level and continue to achieve
on their own, they leave the program to make way for
new participants. According to the Reading Recovery
Council, since the program began in the United States
in 1984, 80% of students who have received the full
series of lessons and 59% of students who have received
any lessons have been able to read and write at the
average-level of their classes by the end of first grade.
Other programs, such as Success
for All, the Comer
School Development Program, and the Accelerated
Schools Project claim to experience similar success
rates with struggling students. The success of such
programs suggests that targeted tutoring is a wise investment.
Additional school funding could be used to expand access
to these programs and to develop similar programs for
other subjects, such as math and science. These programs
could also be modified to serve older students.
Extended-Day Programs
For many low-achieving students, there simply isn’t
enough time in the regular school day to master the
subject matter or develop the reading and math skills
they need. For these students, before- and after-school
programs provide much-needed instructional support.
According to a 2004 research
review by Mid-continent Research for Education and
Learning, extended-day programs have significant positive
effects on student achievement in reading and math.
However, these programs must be adequately funded—with
small group sizes and qualified instructors—to
succeed.
Schools in several areas have successfully implemented
comprehensive extended-day programs that serve large
numbers of students:
• The Boston
2:00-6:00 After School Initiative was created in
1998 to expand student’s access to after-school
programs. The initiative, a partnership between the
Boston Public Schools and philanthropic and corporate
firms, provides high-quality, affordable after-school
programs to 50% of Boston’s schoolchildren. The
city currently spends $11.5 million a year on after-school
programs, and has promised to contribute another $5
million over the next five years.
• The LA’s
BEST program grew out of a community-based initiative
in Los Angeles over 15 years ago. The program is offered
at 69 sites throughout the city and serves approximately
20,000 low-income students aged 5-12. Children receive
homework help and participate in educational activities
from the end of the school day until 6 pm at no cost
to parents. Studies show that students who participate
in LA’s BEST score higher on standardized math
and reading tests and have better school attendance
records.
• San Diego’s 6
to 6 Extended School Day Program offers academic
enrichment and recreational activities before and after
school. The program serves all public elementary and
middle schools within the city limits, and about 25,000
students will participate during the 2004-2005 school
year.
The federal “No
Child Left Behind” Act requires schools identified
as “in need of improvement” for three or
more consecutive years to provide supplemental services
such as tutoring and remediation outside the regular
school day. The act expanded the 21st
Century Community Learning Centers program, which
allows states to select after-school enrichment programs
for use in low-performing schools.
Summer School
Aside from allowing for more instructional time and
smaller class sizes, summer school helps overcome the
well-documented “discontinuation effect”—some
students experience significant losses in proficiency
over summer vacation.
Summer school programs range from remedial courses
for struggling students to enrichment activities for
students working on or above grade-level. Numerous studies
have shown that well implemented summer school programs
can increase academic achievement, especially among
students at risk of failure. However, access to high-quality
programs is still limited in many areas. For example,
in 2002, the Southern Regional Education Board released
a paper
documenting the failure of most Southern states to adequately
fund and regulate summer school programs. In recent
years, New York City has only been able to provide summer
school to about one-third of the at-risk students who
could benefit from it, according to Campaign
for Fiscal Equity’s policy report Proven Practices.
Useful Resources
The Afterschool
Alliance, a group that aims to raise awareness of
the importance of after-school programs, tracks policy
developments related to out-of-school time and conducts
research on after-school programs.
Johns Hopkins University’s Center
for Summer Learning develops and evaluates model
summer learning programs, encourages research on summer
school effectiveness, and educates the public about
summer learning loss.
The Education
Commission of the States collects research on extended-day
programs and summer
school.
The National Governor’s Association has created
the Extra
Learning Opportunities Database to share information
about after-school programs nationwide.
The Finance
Project offers information
about financing and sustaining out-of-school-time programs.
The Massachusetts
2020 Foundation, a group that advocates for increased
after-school and summer school programs, maintains a
research
clearinghouse on out-of-school time.
The National
Institute for Early Education Research releases
an annual State
of Preschool Yearbook, which includes information
about programs in all 50 states. NIEER also provides
research about the benefits of high-quality preschool
programs.
The Campaign
for Fiscal Equity has released a policy report stemming
from its lawsuit in New York City, entitled "Proven
Practices: 'More Time on Task' Benefits Students At
Risk."
Prepared by Emily Wallace, October 15, 2004 |
