Members of a state study commission on out-of-school education on Monday reviewed parent, stakeholder and student survey responses on the quality of Alabama’s afterschool and summer programs and discussed ways to improve program offerings.
At its regularly scheduled meeting, the Joint Interim Study Commission on Expanding Access to High-Quality Out-of-School Education Programs reviewed survey responses detailing the strengths and shortcomings of afterschool and summer programs statewide. Members also discussed ways to strengthen pathways to apprenticeship programs.
The commission, established during the 2025 legislative session, is tasked with producing “comprehensive recommendations” to improve afterschool and summer programs in Alabama.
The Alabama Commission on the Evaluation of Services conducted the survey from July 14 to September 11. Respondents identified steps they believed were necessary to improve afterschool and summer offerings in the state and the services they value most in out-of-school learning programs.
A total of 672 people responded to the survey, including 393 parents or guardians, 233 “stakeholders”—including teachers and afterschool instructors—and 46 youth participants.
Among respondents, 70.7 percent of parents and 63.2 percent of stakeholders said they were “very satisfied” with afterschool and summer program offerings.
Although respondents were largely satisfied with the programs, parents and stakeholders differed in their perceptions of program quality, particularly academic support. They also prioritized different issues.
When asked which activities were most important for summer or afterschool programs, parents and guardians placed greater importance on physical activity than stakeholders did.
About 65 percent of parents ranked physical activity among the most important activities, compared with about 47 percent who cited reading. Among stakeholders, 71.2 percent cited reading as one of the most important program activities, compared with 44.2 percent who cited physical education.
Stakeholders also viewed a lack of transportation as a greater barrier than parents and guardians did. About 32.6 percent of stakeholders cited transportation as a major barrier to program access, compared with 10.2 percent of parents.
When asked which improvements would have the greatest impact on afterschool and summer program participants, about 30 percent of stakeholder respondents cited more high-quality staff, more STEM programming and greater affordability.
More than 30 percent of parents recommended improvements in affordability, additional STEM programming and greater academic support.
Parents were also more likely than stakeholders to report a need for programs during school holidays, teacher workdays and spring break, as well as before school.
Youth respondents, more than half of whom were 8 years old or younger, most commonly cited problem-solving, teamwork and communication as skills they gained from afterschool and summer programs. More than 58 percent reported gaining teamwork and communication skills, while more than 67 percent reported gaining problem-solving skills.
While discussing ways to introduce more STEM learning into programs, commission member Meredith C. Smith said Alabama is one of 10 states partnering with Apprenticeships for America, a nonprofit organization focused on connecting 16- to 26-year-olds with career pathways. The initiative’s Alabama programming focuses on developing workforce pipelines for submarine construction.
Smith also cited a 2023 report showing Alabama had one of the nation’s highest rates of “disconnected youth,” with about 90,000 people ages 18 to 24 who were neither working nor in school.
“I think afterschool and summer learning—that is a prime opportunity for us to be doing more awareness and exploration activities about careers and helping us get our young adults on those strong career pathways,” Smith said.
Smith said 62 percent of Alabamians in apprenticeship programs for manufacturing, K-12 teaching, early childhood education and nursing are between 16 and 24 years old.
“So, this is a pathway they’re really buying into,” Smith said. “We’ve got a lot of momentum in school systems across the state right now.”
Smith described apprenticeship initiatives as “the end of the continuum” for the programming the commission is studying but called for greater emphasis on preparing students for potential apprenticeships through summer and afterschool programs.
“We have all these awareness and exploration activities that can build toward [apprenticeship programs] and help us strengthen our talent pipeline,” Smith said.
