Extended-Service Schools Initiative

The Extended-Service Schools (ESS) Initiative promotes academic and nonacademic development of young people during their out-of-school hours. While the programs differ in organizational structure and management, all ESS programs operate their programs in school buildings, involve partnerships between community-based organizations (and/or universities) and schools, and offer a range of activities to the children and youths who participate--including academic and enrichment activities and sports and recreation. In addition, the financial resources are under the control of the partnering organization rather than the school.

The goal of this initiative is to promote the development of young people through after-school programs.

The ESS Initiative evaluation used a multimethod approach design. Students who participated in the ESS Initiative experienced positive change in four key areas: (1) Staying out of trouble. Responses from both students and parents suggest that the ESS Initiative influenced students' ability to respond in a socially appropriate manner to social challenge and that participating students were less likely to have begun to drink alcohol; (2) Improving school attitudes and behavior. Roughly two thirds of the youths believed that ESS helped them do better in school; (3) Strengthening social networks. Students and parents reported that the program assisted in youths' development of social skills with other children and helped youths feel less shy around adults and (4) Learning new skills, seeing new possibilities, and improving self-confidence.