After-school programs are more than a meal, and they help students improve

President Trump’s Budget Director, Mick Mulvaney, seems to think after-school programs consist only of feeding hungry students, thereby helping them do better in school.

My colleagues in the after-school arena and school administrators everywhere wish things were so easy.

After-school programs are much more than mealtime.

We need the Trump administration to understand this before they eliminate $1.2 billion of services to some of the nation’s most at-risk students.

The federally funded after-school programs referenced by Mulvaney are part of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program located within the U.S. Department of Education.

Contrary to the director’s comments, the 21st Century program does much more than “help kids who… don’t get fed at home get fed so they do better in school.”

The 21st Century program is a time for enrichment when school-day learning is supplemented with activities that range from enhancing vocabulary to tutoring to developing social skills.

The children receive targeted instruction, often from school-day teachers, in smaller groups than are possible during the school day.

The chance to meet individual children where they are provides an irreplaceable opportunity to provide support to those who need it most.

Research shows the program does improve student performance.

Evaluation of the local 21st Century program is conducted by Terri King, Fort Worth ISD coordinator for grants compliance and monitoring.

King’s review of five years’ worth of data found students with sustained participation in the after-school program improved overall grade average, reading/English language arts, science and social studies grades.

Not surprisingly, course passing rates also increased.

The research aligns with student and parent perceptions that participation in the after-school program improved student grades, enhanced interest in school and improved behavior at home and school.

Direct academic support is beneficial, but equally important is social skill development.

In our program sites funded by a 21st Century program grant, students also learn skills such as empathy, self-control, self-management, responsible decision-making and relationship skills.

These are skills that school-day teachers don’t have the time to foster, but which have a direct, positive impact on learning.

Studies show that social and emotional development programs improve school climate, enhance student connection to school and increase student academic performance by 11 to 17 percentage points.

As far as feeding students, yes, in the case of the 21st Century program, the children do get fed.

For many, that meal is very important because the schools are typically located in low-income areas where a balanced meal may not be available at home.

Children who are well fed — in fact, all people who are well fed — perform better with cognitive tasks.

Finally, there is one more benefit to the programs: safety.

The hours from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. are the most dangerous for children, because many are unsupervised.

This lack of supervision can lead to the children becoming the victims or perpetrators of crime.

While this isn’t the only reason to invest in after-school programs, it is a nice fringe benefit of the programming.

So, Mr. Budget Director and Mr. President, before you write off $1.2 billion in services to some of the nation’s most in-need students, please take a minute to familiarize yourself with the good work and positive impact being achieved in after-school programming.

The after-school hours are a valuable time to help students succeed, enhance the school day by developing student social skills and keep children safe.

This story was originally published March 28, 2017 at 2:37 PM with the headline "After-school programs are more than a meal, and they help students improve."