Date of Award

5-2012

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Education

Abstract

While research in the field of afterschool outcomes has made significant contributions to

the knowledge of afterschool programs in urban areas, a thorough analysis of the

cumulative availability across Chicago may offer a more detailed picture. Although much

research has taken a look at many different aspects of afterschool such as the rising

demand and various benefits, very little of it has offered a thorough analysis of the

cumulative availability across Chicago, Illinois (Saito, 2006; Vandell, 2007; Huang,

2007; Acevedo, 2008). This thesis explores afterschool programs in the context of

Chicago, Illinois. The motivation for the study was the assumption that the spending of

education funding in Chicago provides equal opportunities for youth to participate. The

study looks at key claims about the supply and demand for afterschool and examines

whether afterschool programming is equally distributed across the city. The analysis

includes maps using geographic information systems (GIS) and various policies that

affect the availability and sustainability of afterschool programming in Chicago. This

investigation found that afterschool programs are not equally distributed across Chicago.

More specifically this project examines the results and policy implications of unequal

access to expanded learning opportunities between socio-economic statuses and

predominantly low-income, minority neighborhoods. Recommendations for practice and

suggestions for further research are also presented.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Download

Share

COinS