Effects+of+Extra+Curricular+Activities+on+Academic+Achievement

** Academic Value of Non-Academics **
==== This article pulled from many different school districts and touched on many issues that have to dealt with extra curricular activities including how extra curricular activates help with academics. The article states that students grades improve because there extra curricular activities make school more enjoyable for them. It points out that students get to find other like minded students witch makes the students more likely to go to school. In a study by Marg Gardner she concluded that students who were involved in after school activities were 97% more likely to go to college. This shows that after school activities have a dramatic impact on students attitudes toward school and there academics. ==== ==== This article was very excited and had a lot of information from different schools around the country witch led the article to be more well rounded. I agree with the statement that extra curricular activities influence students to go to school more often thus improving there grades. In my own experience as a high school student I always went to school on days were I had a gymnastics meet or practice because I wanted to go to gymnastics and I need to go to school in order to participate in an after school activity. I think that the social impact of after school activities is also important because I personal made some of my best friends through my schools extra curricular arts program having friends at school also influence my school attendance and brought m grads up. Overall I think that this article had many valid points that I could personal validate with my own schooling experiences. ==== ====kronholz, june. (n.d.). Academic Value of Non-Academics. //hoover institution, stanford university//, //1//(winter 2012), 8–14. **THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INTENSITY AND BREADTH OF AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM PARTICIPATION AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT: EVIDENCE FORM A SHORT TERM LONGITUDINAL STUDY**==== ==== This article was about a research study that was conducted. It took student that were in the boys and girls club of the grater Dallas area and looked at there GPA and high school graduation rates. This research yielded many results. On thing that is apparent in the study is that participation in after school activities goes down as the students get older. This study found that after school activities help younger students more than older students in regards to academics. It also showed that the way that is helped students was only with there grade point average and not with there attendance record. This study also proved that students who were involved in a more intense after school activities had more change in there GPA as opposed to students who participated in a less demanding after school program. ==== ==== This article provided very informative data. The data proved that students who gained the most educationally from after school programs were the younger students. This information does not match up with what I personally experienced because when I was younger I did not participated in many after school programs but ass I got older I participated in more and more. This ma be because of my background I was concerned with getting into college so I did as many programs as I could to make sure my application was interesting. This could be why I has a different experience with after school activities than the results show. Over all I think having this statistical data showing that after school sports do help students achieve academically is very important. ==== ====Springer, K., & Diffily. (n.d.). THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INTENSITY AND BREADTH OF AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM PARTICIPATION AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT: EVIDENCE FORM A SHORT TERM LONGITUDINAL STUDY. //journal of commmunity psychology//, //40//(september 2012), 785–798. **Co-curricular activities will help improve exam grades**==== ==== This article is talking about a Huston school and how they are changing extra curricular activities. In this school they are evaluating students on not only there curricular activities but on there extra curricular activities. The after school activities will be able to help student get better grades in the classes that are more challenging to them. This will make sure that the extra curricular activities at the school are being watched very closely since the students will be able to improve there grade if they do well. ====

==== This article was very interesting. I think that taking extra curricular activities and giving the students a grade based on them completely ruins the point of extra curricular activities. There are some positives in this though. The students will be able to improve there grade and this may prompt them to stay in school for a longer amount of time and may prompt more students to graduate. I think that this article is interesting but has no correlation to Rhode island schools because I do not think that this type of extra curricular grading will go over well with the school board. ==== chopra. (2010, April 9). BRIEF: Co-curricular activities will help improve exam grades: Points of View Reference Center Home//. Huston// //times//. Retrieved from http://0-web.ebscohost.com.helin.uri.edu/pov/detail?vid=4&sid=428c8810-c904-4820-a5bc-768976aae291%40sessionmgr13&hid=28&bdata=JnNpdGU9cG92LWxpdmU%3d#db=pwh&AN=2W6276283280 **After-school programs improve academic achievement** This website says that students in elementary school gain more academically form after school activities. Is also says that after school activities help the student who go to the boys and girls club because many of them come from poverty and it helps them get our of their over crowded apartments and work with caring adults. The website states many study the back up its statements. It also says that after school activities are ties to social ad psychological aspects of students lives and are important for students to succeed. Only 15% of American students participate in after school activities but 30% would if there were adequate activities offered to them. I think that this article is very important because it gathers research from many different places and puts it all together in an easy to read manor. This research all points to the fact that after school programs help students and are important tools in academic success. I think that in Rhode Island we could create more after school activities because that way we could enroll more students in them and thus raise grades, especially in elementary schools. When I was an elementary school student in Rhode Island there was not many programs offered to me so if we could add more we may see in increase in test scores. ====tibbetts, kathleen. (2012, October 10). Research: After-school programs improve academic achievement | SMU Forum. Retrieved November 22, 2013, from http://blog.smu.edu/forum/2012/10/10/research-after-school-programs-improve-academic-achievement/====

**Home Alone**
====This article states that students achieve more when they are enrolled in after school activities. This article says that there are not enough slots in after school activities for the students that want to partake in them and it also talks about that fact there is not enough funding for the students that want to be in after school activities it wants schools to offer more activities. The article wants more federal funding to go toward after school activities.====

====I think that this article brings up a lot of important points and talks about a lot of things that we should pay attention to. I think that there should be more federal funding and that after school programs are Vidal to having a good school and a happy and safe school. This article is nice to see someone’s point of view on this topic. A lot it did not provide a lot of information it was important to read because I learned how people truly feel about this topic. This relates to RI schools because we need more funding in order for all the students who want to be in an after school activity to be in one.====

Home Alone. (2009, October 19), p. A30.

Overall Reaction to Your Research
//What did your research teach you about your original question? How would you sum up what you've learned?// My research tough me that there are many people who value after school activities because they think that they make students achieve more in school. I would sum my research up by saying that I learned that after school programs increases students academic achievement because they allow the students to make friends in there classes, they encourage students to attend school more often and they encourage students to do well. overall I learned that after school activities are key if you want students to succeeded and it is important to fund theses programs so every student gets a chance to do well and expand there knowledge.

Relevance in Rhode Island Schools
//How does what you learned in your research inform efforts to reform schools in Rhode Island?// I think that RI schools should try to offer more after school activities for there students because it could help there test scores. I think that if schools had free after school activities then more students would be able to participate.

Relevance to Charter Schools
//How does what you learned in your research relate to the charter schools movement?// //I think that charter schools need to make sure that there students have time for activities after school. I know a lot of charter schools have extended school days with alot of homework and I think that may lead to less time to participate in after school activities. I think that they like public schools should offer free activities to there students so they can all afford to go to them//