Everyone is talking about the MARS project, but what does it really mean to you as an afterschool provider?

As an organization that serves professionals in the afterschool field, MSAC wanted to examine the possible impacts that MARS could have on afterschool programs. MSAC recently had the opportunity to discuss the Massachusetts After-School Research Study (MARS) with Lisa Silverman Pickard, Senior Director of Community Impact at United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Dr. Beth M. Miller, Ph.D. During the course of our conversation, Lisa and Beth shared their knowledge of the project and offered insight as to what impact this research has on the afterschool community. The following is a summary of our conversation.

(To learn more about the Massachusetts After-School Research Study, and to read the full report, please visit http://www.uwmb.org/mars/index.html.)

Q: How is MARS different from past projects involving afterschool?

A: The MARS is a unique approach to studying youth and afterschool. Unlike most past research projects, the MARS project does not compare children who participate in afterschool programs vs. those who do not, but instead focuses on a group of over 4,000 children enrolled in 78 different afterschool programs throughout Massachusetts. Researchers sought to explore the complex relationship between youth experiences and youth outcomes and identify those program characteristics that are most closely related to high quality implementation. In looking at these components, MARS is the first project with this scope and scale in Massachusetts to explore the relationships between afterschool program characteristics and program quality, as well as to identify key quality indicators that lead to positive outcomes for youth. The project is also unique in its focus on afterschool programs throughout the state of Massachusetts, which could be a helpful factor in garnering state legislative attention.

Q: How can afterschool providers utilize MARS in a manner beneficial to their programs?

A:
Youth and Staff Engagement, Hiring Practices
At the Program and Director level, it can be used as a roadmap to help navigate along a pathway leading to quality programming and positive outcomes for children and youth. Since staff engagement was one clear way to ensure youth engagement, director's can feel confident that hiring staff with the ability and commitment to engage youth will be one of the most sure-fire ways to improve their program quality and outcomes. Once staff is hired, providers should look closely at their development opportunities and determine if there is adequate opportunity for staff to gain even more skills to increase their capacity to engage youth and provide quality programming. In addition to hiring, staff evaluations and the type of staff training included in the budget, other factors such as staff to child ratios and staff turnover rates should be examined as these are among the other staff characteristics found to be influential in the MARS report.

Quality was measured for MARS with the Afterschool Program Practices Tool (APT), an assessment tool designed specifically for the study meant to line up with another common outcomes assessment tool, the Survey of Afterschool Youth Outcomes (SAYO). Both of these tools will be available for coordinators to use.

Connections with schools and parents
In addition to staff and youth engagement, connections with schools and connections with parents were also important steps on the pathway to positive youth outcomes. For example, researchers observed that in cases where youth were picked up by parents at the end of the day, staff positively interacting with parents was linked to the overall program culture and on children's attitudes toward adults.

Program Development
The MARS Research can assist afterschool providers by highlighting the elements that may be less developed or missing from their programs. For example, the researchers noted that providers might benefit from increased training and technical assistance in areas such as staff facilitating youth engagement, opportunities for youth leadership, activities that built on cultural or ethnic backgrounds of youth, prior planning of activities, and intentional goals or learning connected to activities.

Conclusion
Afterschool providers can view the information in the MARS study as a general blueprint for a pathway to success and determine where they have strengths and areas for improvement along this pathway. Focusing in on those elements found to be critical along the pathway will help providers to increase program quality and positive outcomes for children and youth.

http://www.uwmb.org/mars/index.html