With a decade-long focus on the urgency to improve science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education in the U.S., afterschool programs in Los Angeles stepped up to answer the call.
In a study released Sept. 14, 89% of parents of students attending afterschool programs in Los Angeles report that their child’s program offers STEM learning opportunities. Eighty-two percent of parents of afterschool students in California and 73% nationwide say the same.
STEM Learning in Afterschool on the Rise, But Barriers and Inequities Exist is based on a household survey conducted by Edge Research for the Afterschool Alliance. It finds that 131,255 of the 148,047 Los Angeles children who participate in an afterschool program have opportunities to learn STEM there. In addition, 13,490 kids participated in summer STEM camps in Los Angeles in 2019.
“Afterschool and summer learning programs are helping engage students in the STEM-related activities they need to succeed, both in school and in life,” said Afterschool Alliance Executive Director Jodi Grant. “These programs offer hands-on, team-based activities that make STEM learning fun. But there’s more work to do. Fewer children are in afterschool programs today than in years past and we need to reverse that trend. In our country today, for every child in an afterschool program, three more are waiting to get in. Changing that should be a high priority for the country.”
“We’re not meeting the demand for afterschool programs in Los Angeles either,” said Laura Beebe, Interim CEO of LA’s BEST. “While we applaud recent investments to expand access to afterschool programs, there is still more work to be done. For every child in an afterschool program here in Los Angeles, 2 more are waiting to get in. And the same is true for summer learning programs; in Los Angeles in 2019, more than 90,000 children would have been enrolled in a summer program if one were available to them. We will keep working until out-of-school-time programs are available to every child, and all students have access to STEM learning in their afterschool and summer programs.”
STEM Learning in Afterschool is based on survey responses from more than 31,000 U.S. families nationwide. Two hundred and forty-nine Los Angeles households with 919 children were screened for the study, which also includes national-level findings from smaller surveys of parents and program providers conducted in summer and fall of 2020 and spring of 2021. In important respects, Los Angeles results mirror the national survey findings:
Parents value and are satisfied with STEM learning in afterschool. Eighty-six percent of Los Angeles parents, 82% of California parents, and 76% of parents nationwide say that afterschool programs help children gain interest and skills related to STEM. Seventy-seven percent of Los Angeles parents, 86% of California parents, and 72% of parents nationwide prioritize STEM and computer science in selecting an afterschool program.
Across the country, STEM learning opportunities in afterschool are on the rise. Three in five parents of afterschool students (60%) report that their child participates in STEM in afterschool twice or more per week, up from 52% in 2014. Learning opportunities in each of the STEM disciplines – science learning, technology/engineering, and math – are more available in afterschool programs today than they were in 2014.
Afterschool programs nationwide are providing STEM learning opportunities to populations underrepresented in STEM fields. More parents of Black (77%) and Latinx (77%) students report that their child’s afterschool program offers STEM than White (72%) and Asian American (68%) parents. Parents of color are more likely than White parents to prioritize STEM and computer science in selecting an afterschool program, with 79% of Latinx and Asian American parents, 75% of Black parents, and 68% of White parents with a student in afterschool reporting it was important in their selection of a program.
But opportunities are not the same for all families. Across the country, more than three in five children in families with higher incomes (62%) participate in a STEM activity in their afterschool program twice per week or more, but just 56% of children in families with low incomes do. Parents in urban communities (79%) are more likely to report that their child has STEM learning opportunities in afterschool than suburban (72%) and rural (70%) parents. Children from higher-income households are three times more likely to participate in a summer STEM camp than children from households with lower incomes.
Overwhelming majorities of parents support public funding for out-of-school-time programs. Ninety percent of Los Angeles parents and 87% of parents nationwide support public funding for afterschool. Eighty-eight percent of Los Angeles parents and 88% of parents nationwide favor public funding for summer learning opportunities.
This 2021 America After 3PM special report, STEM Learning in Afterschool, is based on research commissioned and funded by Overdeck Family Foundation. Data from this special report is based on the 2020 America After 3PM survey results, which was made possible with support from the New York Life Foundation, Overdeck Family Foundation, The Wallace Foundation, the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, Altria Group, and the Walton Family Foundation, as well as the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.
The full study, America After 3PM, and accompanying data, are available at www.afterschoolalliance.org.
The Afterschool Alliance is a nonprofit public awareness and advocacy organization working to ensure that all children and youth have access to quality afterschool programs. More information is available at www.afterschoolalliance.org.
