EDC+102H+F13+Extracurricular+Activiities

=Effects of Extra Curricular Activities=

I. Description of Problem or Issue
Lead Editor: Sarah Morin Do extra curricular activities help students? Extra curricular activities are programs that occur outside of the regular curriculum. The programs usually take place after of before school. Extra curricular activities are experience budgets cuts due to lack of funding. This leads to programs that have little to no financial help and puts all the pressure of financing the activity on the students. In the RI strategic plan, it is important because it talks about making the whole student better by utilizing community and civic leadership which is something that after school activities provide. Many of the current efforts are parents organizations fundraising to provide after school services many which are being cut especially at the elementary and middle school level. There is also some federal organizations that provide funding for after school activities. In 2007, another EDC 102H class did a presentation on after school activities. There research focuses on finding qualified coaches or volunteers to run the programs, making sure there are equal opportunities for men and women, drug testing for after school activities, how parents can get involved, is there adequate funding for after school activities, and how does after school activities help with students experience in school. Their page can be found here: https://uriteacherknowledge.wikispaces.com/Fnl+Prj+-+Extra+Curricular+Activities

II. Relevance of Problem or Issue in Rhode Island Schools
Lead Editor: Ariana Grande Extra curricular activities are extremely relevant in Rhode Island schools.Being a product of Rhode Island public schooling for the majority of my educational career, I can attest to the fact that extra curricular activities are stressed. Elementary schools in my area of Rhode Island offered gym, music, and art classes to all students. For a block of period every day students would receive time to participate in an extra curricular activity. Middle school students were offered other choices. Adding on to the usual gym, art, and music, there were other in school and out of school options. During school hours, home economics, computers, band, and chorus were also options. Outside of school hours there were many organizations that students were eligible to join. From student council, to different sports teams, the middle schools in my area offered many different options for students to get involved. Once students got to the high school the options expanded even more. Extra curricular activities were stressed in order to prepare high school students for college, and to keep younger students off the "streets" during the after school hours. Some Rhode Island public schools even partner with local clubs such as the YMCA, or the Boys and Girls Club to form after school programs to keep students out of trouble while their parents were at work. A major issue with extra curricular activities and Rhode Island public schools is funding. It's a sad reality that in order to have such great extra curricular programs, there must be a decent amount of money left over after budgeting to keep them running. To show the sad truth, my middle school, North Cumberland, had to cut down on extra curricular activities because of insufficient funding.

III. Relevance of Problem or Issue to the Charter Schools Movement
Lead Editor: Stephanie Otis Typically, public schools offer many more extracurricular activities than charter schools. In addition, because of the size and number of public schools, their extracurricular activities are typically larger and more diverse. It is not required for charter schools to offer extracurricular activities. However, in most states, if charter schools do not offer any, their students are allowed to participate in the extracurricular activities of the public school(s) in their district. While this is great that charter school students are offered this opportunity, I feel that these students might feel discouraged towards joining public school extracurricular activities. This is because they will be playing sports or joining a club with students that they do not go to school with, students they do not necessarily know. This can be intimidating. Public school students may not welcome them as easily. Charter school students may not feel school pride. Also, the schedules of the public schools may conflict with those of the charter schools. Rides to the public schools could also be an issue for the charter school students. While the Charter School Movement is gaining momentum and popularity, the importance, even necessity, of extracurricular activities needs to be taken into consideration. For the maximum success of the student, charter schools should invest in strong extracurricular activities and programs.

IV. Research Summary
Lead Editor: Everyone

//Tiffany-Behavior// When researching involvement in extracurricular activities and a student’s behavior, I found many positive effects. I found that volunteering boosts a person’s overall mood and encourages them to meet new people who are working to a common goal; being comfortable around friends and classmates boosts confidence and social skills. These skills give a student more confidence in the classroom to participate and be considerate around their peers. With involvement in different activities, leadership skills can develop as well. Participating in activities improves self-esteem as well. It is crucial to find the right balance between school work and extracurricular activities in order to limit the amount of stress a child may get. Being a part of after school activities develops a connection between the student and school encouraging attendance and school pride. Overall it was found in my research that extracurricular activities have a positive effect on a students’ behavior in and out of the classroom.

//Matt – Future // When it comes to the research I found on the effects of extracurricular activities on students’ futures, the majority of the information showed positive benefits. First, extracurricular activities were found to help students develop many traits, techniques, and characteristics that contribute to an encouraging future. These traits include time management, diverse interests, long-term commitments, community/school contributions, higher self-esteem, and solid relationship skills. These are all things that benefit a future not only college but the actual work environment. Next, extracurricular activities look good on a college application. This helps students’ futures because it helps them look respectable to colleges looking to accept student who get involved. Also, graduation rates for students of every race were proven to increase when those students were involved in extracurricular activities. The same goes for increased college acceptance rates. There were a higher percent of students attending college when the high school they attended also had more extracurricular activities as well. The negatives associated with extracurricular activities were very slim. Some students lose track of school if they become too involved or if it’s too competitive, however these do not occur frequently. Last, among athletes, the amount of alcohol they consume is increased due to competitiveness and anxiety. Overall, extracurricular activities affect the futures of students in progressive ways.

//Steph - Safety// Throughout my research on the effects of extracurricular activities on student safety, I found a positive correlation. Extracurricular activities and after school programs have the great ability to keep children and teens safe during the "danger hours". Danger hours is the period of time between 3 and 6pm when students are most likely to engage in "risky behaviors", such as crime, violence, accidents, and/or drugs. However, if students are spending this time in after school programs or extracurricular activities, such as sports teams or clubs, they do not have the chance to compromise their safety via engaging in risky behaviors. Another great point I came across in my research is that students who are involved in extracurricular activities have a higher self-esteem and sense of purpose, and they generally hold themselves to a higher academic standard than their peers. In turn, they have fairly strong future aspirations for themselves. This makes them more likely to say "no" to engaging in risky behaviors, which will help keep them safe. Additionally, I found that drug testing is a popular topic of debate among extracurricular activities. Some feel that participating in extracurricular activities is a privilege, and therefore drug testing should be mandatory. Others feel that the threat of random or mandatory drug testing will discourage students in using drugs. And others feel it is a violation. Another heated topic of debate is funding for extracurricular activities. It is often in cities and areas of lower socioeconomic status that student safety is most compromised. However, it is often these same areas that funding for extracurriculars is compromised. Often, parents must pay fees for sports teams, clubs, and activities after school. If a parent is not financially capable of this extra expense, their child's safety is at risk. Another strong, yet simple, point in the importance of extracurricular activities is that they connect students. To look at the big picture, connected students equal safer campuses and communities, a goal every school district should have. In conclusion, extracurricular activities have the beneficial power of increasing student safety.

//Ari- Creativity// After researching about extra curricular activities and their effects on a student's creativity, I found many important truths. The first, is that creativity is so important to a student. Creativity is the drive that helps students to think outside of the box, to ask questions instead of just giving answers, and to "spice" up their way of learning. Extra curricular activities such as art and music are subjects that inspire and ask for a students creativity. This certain creativity shown by a student is something that can set them apart as an individual. Creativity in extra curricular activities can carry over into the classroom also. By learning out of the box and new strategies of learning, students would be able to come up with different project ideas, presentation ideas, maybe even alternate ways of learning things. Creativity shows a students personality which is so important when it comes to high school students and the college application process. When a child is younger, creative ideas of learning could help a struggling chid find an alternate way of learning a topic or subject. This idea of creativity in extra curricular activities is one that can lead to a student's academic achievement in the classroom. It is important to not only focus on the numbers and letters aspect to school, but also of the creative mind and what it can do to benefit a student in the future.

V. Group Product Overview
Lead Editor: Tiffany Gagliardo Our group plans on presenting a Prezi presentation and following that with an interactive activity. Prezi is an updated, newer version on how to present a powerpoint just in a different format. The Prezi was divided into 5 different sections, one for each group member. The sections included extracurricular activity involvement's affect on a student's safety, future, behavior, creativity skills, and academic achievement. Each member presented a different topic and went into detail taking facts from their previous research to enhance what was written on the Prezi already. With each section, that particular presenter is expected to talk for an average of five minutes, leaving enough time for the activity. The activity we chose to do was called "On the Bus, Off the Bus." Most URI students should already be familiar with the game because it is commonly played at orientation and during URI 101 sections. For those that are unaware of the directions, they are told everyone stands in one straight line facing one direction. The presenters will ask a serious of questions and if the question applies to the student, they are expected to stand backwards or forwards according to the instructions given previously. Questions will cover the topics that each member of the group researched. Once all the questions have been asked, discussion questions will follow. These questions will allow for student involvement and ask for answers that have more than just "yes" or "no" answers.

VII. Research Questions and Reference Summaries
Lead Editor: Everyone
 * || **Research Question** || **Researcher** ||
 * 1. || Effects of Extra Curricular Activities on Behavior || Tiffany ||
 * 2. || Effects of Extra Curricular Activities on Student Safety || Steph ||
 * 3. || Effects of Extra Curricular Activities on Creativity || Ariana ||
 * 4. || Effects of Extra Curricular Activities on Academic Achievement || Sarah ||
 * 5. || Effects of Extra Curricular Activities on Future || Matt ||

VIII. Group Reaction/Opinion(s) about Issue
Lead Editor: Matthew Hoey

The general consensus of the group is that our research clearly shows how the effects of extracurricular activities are helpful to students in many different areas. From our own personal experiences, we have all been involved in such activities for quite a few years now. The short term effects of being involved outside of the standard curriculum we agreed, were increased happiness, an increase in relationship building skills, and most importantly a positive effect academic performance. The long term effects include real life proficiencies, such as time management and task prioritization, an advantageous selection of colleges, and becoming a well-rounded individual. One thing that did happen to come up is that we did not agree on the possible side-effects of being involved in too many extracurricular activities. Some of the members of our group believed that spending too much time in too many clubs or activities can create anxiety for a student, and eventually lead to depression or a distancing from ones friends and family outside of their activities. However, the rest of the group feels that there is not enough research to properly evaluate any of these as directly correlated to extracurricular activities. Regardless of which opinion is more dominant, it is clear that both the short and long term effects provide positive reinforcement for important social development and self-confidence for any student.

The group generally had opinions that we all share except for one area that we presented. For one, everyone in the group believes that extracurricular activities improve behavior by giving a student a reason to be motivated in school, which in turn improves the academic achievement of a student. We all believe that students are normally safer participating in an extracurricular activity than being exposed to poor influences outside of school, and we all believe that a student’s future is extremely benefitted by his or her participation in extracurricular activities. However, the amount of creativity a student really receives is where opinions changed. Sarah and Ariana believe that creativity is extremely influenced by extracurricular activities, and that the reason some students strive is only because of the creativity they develop and are allowed to express through extracurricular activities. Tiff, Steph, and myself all agreed that creativity is different for all students, so creativity is not a major effect. This is most likely because Tiff, Steph and I all participated in sports for the most part while Ariana and Sarah are more musically inclined. So, the difference in opinion is due to the different social environments we were exposed to at our different activities.