MEASUREMENT IN SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH

Assignment #1
Samira Ali
fq7753
Dr. Harrison
SW 4810
October 23, 2015

MEASUREMENT IN SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH

Accessisanonprofitorganizationthatassists,improves,andempowersindividuals.The
humanservicesthatthisorganizationprovidesisBasicNeeds,Immigration,Translation,
AcademicEnrichment,andFinancialStability.Theacademicenrichmentdepartmentoffersan
afterschoolprogram.The21stCenturyCommunityLearningCenterisanacademicenrichment
programthathelpsmotivatestudentstoachievetheirhighestpotential.Thetutoringprogram
worksonvariousskillsafterschool.Inadditiontotutoringandteachingcoreacademicsubject
material,thecenterincorporatescharactereducation,recreationalactivities,andgoal
developmenttocreatewellroundedindividuals.
Eachclassroommaintainsalowstudenttoteacherratioforhighqualityinteraction
amongyouthandadults.(u.n.,2014).Thisprogramtakesplaceatschool.The21stCentury
CommunityLearningCenterprovidescertifiedteachers.Theclassroomsareuniquewiththeir
ownindividualdcorhowevereachhastencomputers,bookshelves,twoprinters,desks,chairs,
andhealthysnacks.AttendeesrangefromDearborn,DearbornHeights,andtheDetroitarea.
ThelocalschoolsareFordsonHighSchool,MillerElementary,andWilliamFordElementary.
Thestudentsvaryfromagesseventhrougheighteen.Manyofthestudentsneedextrahelpwith
homeworkinordertokeeptheirgradesup.Howeverothersneedtheoneononetounderstand
theirassignmentsthatweregiveninclass.Moreover,someneedtheresourcesthatareprovided
inthisprogram.ThethreeschoolsmentionedhaveahighpopulationofEnglishasasecond
languagelearners.ThepopulationoftheschoolsseemstobeseventypercentArabAmericans,
thirtypercentaremixedbetweenCaucasian,AfricanAmerican,andHispanic.Manyafter
schoolprogramsareincreasing.Afterschoolresearchhasidentifiedsomeaspectsofprogram
climatethataffectchildrensdevelopmentaloutcomes.Highqualityprograms,those

MEASUREMENT IN SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH

characterizedasimplementedinsafeandhealthyemotionalclimates;bywarm,attentive,and
responsivestaff;withlowchildtostaffratios;andhighquantitiesofprogrammaterialsand
experiences,havebeenassociatedwithpositiveoutcomes,particularlyinsocialdevelopment
(Riggs,p.181).
Ihopetomeasuretheimpactthatthisafterschoolprogramhasonthestudentsacademic
improvement.Whichstudentsbenefitmostfromthisafterschoolprogram?Thearticlestates
thatthehoursimmediatelyfollowingschoolcanbetheriskiestofachildsday,particularlyif
duringthosehourschildrenareleftunsupervised.Unsupervisedtimehasbeenlinkedto
increasesinviolence,delinquency,sexualintercourse,smoking,andalcoholanddrugabuse
(Richardson,p.177).
Theconceptualanalysistestingmodelsofmoderationandmediationareonewaytodevelop
moreunderstandingwiththeprogram.Istheafterschoolprogramonlyeffectivetosomeandif
sowhy?ThefactorsItakeintoconsiderationarethetypeofprogram,attendance,and
supervision.Iwouldalsoliketoseeiftheroleofgenderhasacertainoutcome.Areboysorgirls
moresuccessfulinthisprogram?Familyvariablesdohaveanimpactonsuccessratesaswell.
Methodologicallyrigorousevaluationsbasedonmodelsofresearchthatconsider
individualandcontextualfactorscontaingreatpromiseindeterminingthecharacteristicsof
afterschoolprogramsmostbeneficialtochildrensdevelopmentaswellasthechildren,families,
andcommunitiesmostlikelytobeimpactedbytheimplementationofafterschoolprograms
(Riggs,p.188).Ihopetoestablishasurveyinordertoseesuccessratesinafterschoolprograms.
Alsoifthesuccessrateislowwhatneedsimproving?

MEASUREMENT IN SOCIAL WORK RESEARCH

References
AcademicEnrichment.(2014).RetrievedOctober21,2015,from
https://www.accesscommunity.org/youth/academicenrichment
Richardson,V.(1989).Schoolchildrenatrisk.Philadelphia,PA:TheFulmerPress.
Riggs,N.,&Greenberg,M.(2004).AfterSchoolYouthDevelopmentPrograms:ADevelopmentalEcological
ModelofCurrentResearch.ClinicalChildandFamilyPsychologyReviewClinChildFamPsycholRev,7(3),
177190.