Inspired Minds

Over 75% of afterschool funding comes from parents, resulting in a 6,000 hour education gap by 6th grade between low-income students and their middle income peers (ExpandED Schools).

Students regularly participating in afterschool programs improve work habits, demonstrate higher levels of persistence, and skip less school (Vandell et al., 2007). They also experience increases in academic performance and improve the likelihood of graduating from high school (Afterschool Alliance, 2013). Additionally, the math achievement gap between low‐ and high‐income students narrows when low‐income students attend afterschool programs (Auger et al., 2013).

Math skills upon entering kindergarten are the best predictor of 8th grade performance regardless of race, gender, or SES; children who consistently struggle with math are less likely to receive a high school diploma or attend college (Duncan et al., 2007).

Students imagine scientists to be white, middle‐class, male, and “brainy”–which is, for many, not who they see when they look in the mirror (ASPIRES Project, 2014). Exposure to science not only changes a child’s understanding of his/her identity, but impacts learning and career trajectory (Dabney et al., 2011).

Over half of 18- to 34-year olds regularly say they cannot do math. Overdeck Family Foundation funded research that showed that parents’ perception of their children’s math abilities can become more positive, which in turn improves children’s math performance by as much as three months (Schaeffer et al., 2018).