On Sunday, April 7th I was honored to be the discussant for a symposium for out of school time programs at Annual AERA meeting in Toronto. The topic of the symposium was “Digging Deeper: Using Mixed-Methods to Assess Promising Practices in Out-of-School Time”. Featured on the panel was a paper written by Sherri Lauver and Lauren Scher of Concentric Research & Evaluation titled Examining the Long-Term Effects of the Horizons Student Enrichment Programs on Student Academic Outcomes. The Paper was based on the findings of a five-year longitudinal study of 15 Horizons affiliates across the country, one of those being Horizons at Warner. The entire report can be read on our web site under the ‘Our Results’ tab, or at horizonsnational.org.
It was exciting to hear the findings and outcomes from the report presented alongside other research projects about out-of-school time. The audience had many questions around our high numbers in daily attendance and retention rates across nine consecutive years. It was particularly important to learn that the study found direct impacts on student’s school year attendance, participation, behavior and academic achievement from their peers who did not attend a Horizons program. These findings continue to remind us of the importance of continuing to explore the impacts Horizons at Warner is having on the students we serve here locally in the Rochester City School District.
Julia