Tuesday, September 21, 1999
Kids fare better in school experiment
BY PAUL SOUHRADA
The Associated Press
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OTHER FINDINGS
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Some results from a University of Cincinnati evaluation of the state's model child-care program for low-income families:
• Students participating in the program performed better than the state average on state proficiency tests.
• Children who had missed eight days on average in kindergarten — before participating in the program — skipped only three days in first grade. Eighth-grader absenteeism dropped from 18 days to five.
• TV viewing decreased among children enrolled in the program.
• Suspensions and expulsions were reduced.
• Homework was completed more often, and classroom grades improved.
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COLUMBUS — Grade-school students in an experimental after-school and summer child-care program for low-income families improved their test scores and were absent less often, says a report by state welfare and education officials and the Ohio Hunger Task Force.
“The bottom line is this is a program that works,” Bill Dolan, the task force's executive director, said Monday following the release of a University of Cincinnati evaluation of the Urban School Initiative School Age Child Care Project.
More than 3,000 students in 17 urban school districts participated in the program, initially financed with a $10 million federal grant administered by the Ohio Department of Human Services. The program, managed by the Hunger Task Force, was intended to provide children with extra help with their class work, an extra meal or two a day and supervised activities.
Before the program started, many of the students were left alone while their parents worked — some in homes with no food in the refrigerator, Mr. Dolan said.
“Many of the children went from being latchkey kids facing unchallenging or unsupervised environments to safe, academically challenging and enriching after-school care,” he said.
To evaluate the program, UC researchers interviewed students, parents and teachers, reviewed proficiency test scores for fourth- and sixth-graders and inspected some of the 125 child-care sites operating over the past 18 months. The task force commis sioned the study.
Some of the sites are in schools, while others are housed with nonprofit organizations, including the YMCA, YWCA and Salvation Army.
The follow-up showed fourth-graders in the program beat the state average on all five sections of the proficiency test. Sixth-graders performed better on four of five areas.
The students cut down their absenteeism and tardiness by at least 50 percent, compared with the previous school year, the report showed.
An important side benefit: Some parents who had been working part time were able to take a full-time job because their children were in the program, said Jacqui Romer-Sensky, the state's human services director.
The requirement to move families from welfare to jobs can be particularly difficult for parents who cannot arrange adequate child care, she said.
Ms. Romer-Sensky and the other organizers say they hope other school districts participate.
Mr. Dolan estimated the state would pay the bulk of the estimated $2,000 annual per-child cost. Private donations would account for 20 percent to 30 percent, with parents chipping in 10 percent to 25 percent, depending on income.
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