1
STUDY OF PROMISING AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS
PARENT SURVEY GLOSSARY
FALL 2003
Measure
SPRING 2005
Elementary
Middle
Elementary
Middle
After-School Activities
X
X
X
X
Child Adjustment Scale
X
X
X
X
X
X
Parent Satisfaction with AfterSchool Program
2
AFTER-SCHOOL ACTIVITIES
After-School Activities was created for the Study of Promising After-School Programs to
determine students’ involvement in structured and unsupervised activities outside of school.
Administration
Fall 2003
Spring 2005
Fall 2003 items
Since school started this year, how often has your child…
1. Played on an organized sports team (e.g., soccer or basketball team) after school
2. Taken part in after-school activities at your school such as band, choir, drama, yearbook,
STEP, drill team, or cheerleading
3. Taken extra reading or math classes after school
4. Taken lessons in music, art, dance, sports, or some other activity after school
5. Gone to religious classes (e.g., Sunday School, catechism, Hebrew school) or services (e.g.,
Mass) at your church, mosque, or temple
6. Gone to Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Girls Inc., or a 4-H Club
7. Gone to a YWCA, YMCA, or PAL center after school
8. Gone to a Boys and Girls Club after school
9. Done something with someone from the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program after school
10. Gone to a different club or organization after school that we didn’t already ask you about
11. Been home alone after school without an adult there
12. Taken care of a sister or brother after school without an adult there
13. Hung out with friends after school without an adult there
Spring 2005 items (that are different from Fall 2003)
Items 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 are the same as in Fall 2003.
This school year, how often has your child…
1. Gone to (name of after-school program participating in the study) after school
6. Played on an organized sports team (e.g., soccer or basketball team) after school
7. Gone to Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Girls Inc., 4-H, YMCA, YWCA, or PAL center after
school
Response scale
0 = not at all
1 = once or twice
2 = about once a week
3 = 2-3 days a week
4 = 4 or more days a week
Scoring
Individual item scores; mean item scores can be created as needed for specific data analyses
3
Psychometrics
FALL 2003
Item
Elementary (N = 1513)
Middle (N = 974)
M
SD
Range
M
SD
Range
1. organized sports
0.82
1.26
0-4
1.01
1.39
0-4
2. school activities
0.59
1.16
0-4
0.90
1.36
0-4
3. reading/math classes
0.90
1.37
0-4
0.79
1.27
0-4
4. lessons
1.16
1.40
0-4
1.36
1.49
0-4
5. religious classes/services
1.09
1.15
0-4
1.03
1.18
0-4
6. Scouts, 4-H
0.27
0.74
0-4
0.18
0.57
0-4
7. YMCA/YWCA, PAL
0.26
0.79
0-4
0.30
0.84
0-4
8. Boys & Girls Club
0.47
1.11
0-4
0.32
0.92
0-4
9. Big Brothers/Sisters
0.10
0.50
0-4
0.10
0.51
0-4
10. other club or group
0.48
1.14
0-4
0.48
1.10
0-4
11. home alone
0.17
0.67
0-4
0.76
1.19
0-4
12. cared for sibling
0.10
0.51
0-4
0.36
0.88
0-4
13. hung out with friends
0.18
0.64
0-4
0.55
0.99
0-4
SPRING 2005
Item
Elementary (N = 1006)
Middle (N = 536)
M
SD
Range
M
SD
Range
1. after-school program
1.95
1.76
1.47
1.63
0-4
2. school activities
0.93
1.36
0-4
0-4
1.18
1.38
0-4
3. reading/math classes
1.17
1.43
0-4
0.68
1.11
0-4
4. lessons
1.42
1.52
0-4
1.43
1.46
0-4
5. religious classes/services
1.22
1.21
0-4
1.04
1.15
0-4
6. organized sports
0.95
1.36
0-4
1.17
1.50
0-4
7. Scouts, 4-H, Girls Inc.,
YMCA/YWCA, PAL
0.48
1.04
0-4
0.42
0.93
0-4
8. Boys & Girls Club
0.51
1.12
0-4
0.39
1.01
0-4
9. Big Brothers/Sisters
0.14
0.59
0-4
0.10
0.45
0-4
10. other club or group
0.41
1.03
0-4
0.40
0.95
0-4
11. home alone
0.22
0.68
0-4
1.05
1.24
0-4
12. cared for sibling
0.11
0.50
0-4
0.56
1.01
0-4
13. hung out with friends
0.24
0.70
0-4
0.84
1.14
0-4
4
CHILD ADJUSTMENT SCALE
The Child Adjustment Scale (Santrock & Warshak, 1979) is a 35-item measure of children’s
socioemotional adjustment that utilizes a 4-point response scale. The measure includes four
scales: Peer Relations (13 items) Work Habits (9 items), Emotional Health (6 items), and
Compliance (3 items). The Study of Promising After-School Programs used 33 items with a
modified response scale. Most of the items were modified in order to simplify the language.
Citation
Santrock, J. W., & Warshak, R. A. (1979). Father custody and social development in boys and
girls. Journal of Social Issues, 35, 112-125.
Administration
Fall 2003
Spring 2005
Items
1. teases others
2. is easily distracted
3. is popular
4. talks back to adults
5. is happy
6. shares with others
7. threatens others
8. is alert
9. is helpful to others
10. solves problems on his or her own
11. listens when others are talking
12. is afraid of new things
13. takes part in activities
14. hits other kids
15. ignores other people
16. respects other people’s things
17. is talkative around others
18. keeps trying when playing games that are hard
19. is unhappy
20. takes turns
21. fights with others
22. is loving
23. tattles on others
24. is shy
25. is slow at learning new subjects at school
26. quits working on a job when problems come up
27. is organized
28. is good at sports
29. likes doing things with friends instead of family
30. is hard to discipline
31. wants to do well in school
32. disobeys adults
33. works well without the help of adults
5
Response scale
1 = hardly ever
2 = not usually
3 = in-between
4 = usually
5 = almost always
Scoring
Mean item scores
Peer Relations = 12 items: 1-reversed, 3, 6, 7-reversed, 9, 11, 14-reversed, 15-reversed, 17,
20, 21-reversed, 23-reversed
Work Habits = 9 items: 2-reversed, 8, 10, 18, 25-reversed, 26-reversed, 27, 31, 33
Emotional Health = 6 items: 5, 12-reversed, 13, 19-reversed, 22, 24-reversed
Compliance = 3 items: 4-reversed, 30-reversed, 32-reversed
Psychometrics
N
Work habits
Peer relations
Emotional health
Compliance
1486
1477
1474
1507
Work habits
Peer relations
Emotional health
Compliance
950
954
952
969
N
Work habits
Peer relations
Emotional health
Compliance
981
981
981
996
Work habits
Peer relations
Emotional health
Compliance
526
527
527
535
M
SD
Elementary: Fall 2003
3.83
0.62
4.12
0.46
4.08
0.53
4.24
0.85
Middle: Fall 2003
3.80
0.65
4.09
0.48
3.97
0.56
4.06
0.92
M
SD
Elementary: Spring 2005
3.91
0.61
4.17
0.46
4.08
0.52
4.22
0.80
Middle: Spring 2005
3.87
0.62
4.14
0.47
3.99
0.58
4.08
0.92
Range
Alpha
1-5
1.91-5
1-5
1-5
.75
.64
.48
.72
1.33-5
1.92-5
2-5
1-5
.79
.71
.54
.75
Range
Alpha
1.44-5
2.73-5
1.83-5
1-5
.78
.70
.52
.71
1.56-5
2.17-5
1.17-5
1-5
.79
.76
.66
.80
6
PARENT SATISFACTION WITH AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM
Parent Satisfaction with After-School Program is a measure of parental perceptions of the child’s
after-school program. It was administered only to those parents who indicated that their children
attended one of the participating after-school programs. The measure includes items from several
sources, with the wording of many items and the response scale revised for use in the Study of
Promising After-School Programs. A principal factor analysis yielded a 1-factor solution.



ASQ system for self-evaluation by programs (O’Connor, 1991): Items 8, 9, 12, 13, 16, 19
Rosenthal & Vandell (1996): Items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 14, 15, 20
Kids with My Kid, a measure of peer network characteristics developed by Deborah Lowe
Vandell for the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development: Items 7, 11,
18
Citations
O'Connor, S. (1991). ASQ: Assessing school-age child care quality. Wellesley, MA: Wellesley
College, Center for Research on Women.
Rosenthal, R., & Vandell, D. L. (1996). Quality of care at school-aged child care programs:
Regulatable features, observed experiences, child perspectives, and parent perspectives. Child
Development, 67, 2434-2445.
Administration
Spring 2005
Items
1. The program meets my child’s needs
2. My child complains about not getting enough time to him/herself
3. My child is given enough say in choosing activities
4. There are enough different activities offered that my child can choose what to do
5. I am satisfied with the quality of activities my child has been involved in this year
6. My child likes going to the program
7. The kids at the program are a good group of kids
8. The staff at the program are critical of my child
9. The program is a safe place to be
10. The staff is fair in disciplining my child and enforcing rules
11. I worry when my child is with this group of kids
12. The staff tell me about how my child is doing
13. My child has time to relax and play in the program
14. The relations between the staff and my child are positive
15. The program is a good environment for my child to build friendships
16. I am satisfied with the program’s hours of operation
17. The program is in a convenient location
18. Some of the kids are a bad influence on my child
19. I am satisfied with the cost of the program
20. Overall, I am satisfied with the program
7
Response scale
1 = strongly disagree
2 = disagree
3 = neither agree nor disagree
4 = agree
5 = strongly agree
Scoring
Mean item score; items 2, 8, 11, 18 are reverse coded.
Psychometrics
N
M
SD
Range
Alpha
Elementary
468
4.15
0.52
2.05-5
.89
Middle
168
4.02
0.54
1.67-5
.88
Validity
Rosenthal & Vandell (1996) reported that their parent satisfaction measure (our items 1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6, 10, 14, 15, 20) was positively associated with child reports of psychosocial climate in afterschool programs and negatively associated with child:staff ratio in the programs.