Just 21 Percent of Iowa Children Attend Summer Learning Programs, According to 'America After 3PM, Special Report on Summer'

An Estimated 207,000 Iowa Kids Would Likely Participate in a Summer Learning Program, Based on Parent Interest

WASHINGTON, May 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- When schools close for the summer, safe and enriching learning environments are out of reach and replaced by boredom, lost opportunities and risk for too many children.  New analysis of data from the America After 3PM study measures the extent of this problem, concluding that just 21 percent of Iowa's schoolchildren (an estimated 108,980 kids) participate in summer learning programs – safe, structured programs that provide a variety of activities designed to encourage learning and development in the summer months.  

Fifty-one percent of Iowa kids (an estimated 207,580 children) not currently enrolled in a summer learning program would likely participate, based on parent interest.  Three in four Iowa parents (77 percent) support public funding for these programs.  

America After 3PM is a survey of nearly 30,000 households across the United States, commissioned by the Afterschool Alliance and JCPenney Afterschool in 2009.  The summer learning report is sponsored by The Wallace Foundation.  It finds that just 25 percent of children in the United States attend summer learning programs.  Nearly half of kids whose parents say they are interested in enrolling them in summer learning programs (46 percent) qualify for free or reduced price lunches.

"In Iowa, we're losing critical opportunities to educate and enrich our students during the summer," said John Border, Community Education Project Manager at Davenport Community Schools and an Afterschool Ambassador for the Afterschool Alliance.  "All students should have the chance to participate in summer learning programs so they can explore their talents, maintain their academics and enrich their lives."

"These findings are sobering, especially because we know that inequities in summer learning are a major contributor to the achievement gap between high- and low-income students," said Afterschool Alliance Executive Director Jodi Grant.  "By not creating and funding enough summer learning programs, we are missing the chance to engage and educate millions of students during the summer, and instead are leaving them unsupervised and at risk."  Grant urged lawmakers to fund 21st Century Community Learning Centers, which support afterschool and summer programs.  

The new report and state data are available online at www.afterschoolalliance.org. America After 3PM Special Report on Summer is sponsored by The Wallace Foundation. All data cited in the report are from the 2009 America After 3PM research, which was sponsored by JCPenney Afterschool.

SOURCE Afterschool Alliance