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The Urban Review

, Volume 49, Issue 5, pp 707–728 | Cite as

Exploring the Influence of Efficacy Beliefs and Homework Help in Predicting Reading Achievement Among Underserved Children in an Afterschool Program

  • Diane Sookyoung Lee
  • Tina G. Dang
  • Jennifer Ulibas-Pascual
  • Kimberly A. Gordon Biddle
  • Brian Heller de Leon
  • Deborah Elliott
  • Josiah Gorter
Article
First Online:

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a local afterschool program in helping underserved elementary school students improve their reading achievement. The study followed a cohort of students with 28 participants who were low-income, ethnic minority children in the 1st–6th grades between the ages of 6 and 12. Data on students’ developmental assets and school progress were collected at two different time points. Overall, students showed increased perceptions of efficacy about having the ability and skills to do well on a task and getting good grades in school, as well as improvements in reading achievement over time. While changes in homework completion predicted changes in reading achievement, changes in efficacy beliefs and program exposure did not. Results suggest that teacher perceptions of homework completion may be an important pathway through which afterschool programs can help narrow the reading achievement gap experienced by ethnic minority students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Keywords

Afterschool program Efficacy Reading Ethnic minority Poverty 
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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  • Diane Sookyoung Lee
    • 1
  • Tina G. Dang
    • 2
  • Jennifer Ulibas-Pascual
    • 1
  • Kimberly A. Gordon Biddle
    • 1
  • Brian Heller de Leon
    • 3
  • Deborah Elliott
    • 3
  • Josiah Gorter
    • 3
  1. 1.College of EducationCalifornia State University, SacramentoSacramentoUSA
  2. 2.Sacramento City Unified School DistrictSacramentoUSA
  3. 3.The GreenHouseSacramentoUSA

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