Sean Murphey, DoDEA, March 2015
Out of School Time Programs in Montgomery County, MD
A Comparative Study on the Excel Beyond the Bell After-School Programs
Project Lead:
Researchers:
David Whyman, Sean Hu, Joana Lepuri, Matt Maxson, Mercedes Wentworth-Nice
Abstract:
In order to address a dearth of after-school options available to low-income students and provide support to at-risk students, Montgomery County has piloted the Excel Beyond the Bell (EBB) out of school time initiative. When asked to recommend an expansion strategy for EBB, we (1) evaluated EBB program design and practices in the context of County needs and goals and with respect to findings in national Out of School Time (OOST) literature and (2) compared EBB to OOST programs in various jurisdictions around the country. We recommend that EBB focus on expanding its elementary school program over its middle school program, while preserving (a) the zero cost to participating families, (b) the at-risk student referral system, (c) the parent engagement component , and (d) the English language learning component.