Overview

LA's BEST (Better Educated Students for Tomorrow), started in 1988, provides 18,000 students in 105 Los Angeles schools with academic tutoring and instruction; a safehaven for enrichment and recreation; and an opportunity to develop self-discipline, self-confidence, and interpersonal skills. The program is a partnership of the Los Angeles Unified School District, the City of Los Angeles, the state department of education, and private sector companies. It runs Monday through Friday, after school until 6 p.m., serving children in neighborhoods vulnerable to gangs, crime, and drugs.

Academic Program Design and Curriculum

The design is aligned to the district reading program, Open Court, and to the SOAR assessment program.

Funding/Costs

In 2002, funding was $15 million; cost per child is under $5 per day.

Assessments of Academic Student Needs

The academic needs of participating students are determined by their norm-referenced test results and SOAR.

Staffing

A combination of teachers and paraprofessionals makes up the staff.

Class Size

Twenty or fewer students are assigned to one teacher.

Communication Between Extended and School Day Staff

Daily communication between staff is an integral part of the program.

Achievement Results

In June 2000, the UCLA Center for the Study of Evaluation (CSE) released the results of the latest study on LA's BEST. Titled A Decade of Results: The Impact of the LA's BEST After School Enrichment Program on Subsequent Student Achievement and Performance, the evaluation examined 20,000 students from 24 elementary schools in the program. Results revealed that, when compared with non-LA's BEST students, participating students have fewer days of absence and show positive achievement on standardized tests in mathematics, reading, and language arts.

As supported by a regression analysis and confirmed in a path model, intensity of participation in LA's BEST is the key factor to the future success of program participants. (The complete Decade of Results UCLA CSE report can be downloaded as a pdf file). Previous CSE evaluations also yielded promising academic results: (1) grades in every subject improved; (2) overall grade-point averages in math, science, social studies, reading, and written composition increased after the second year in the program by 28 percent, with a 24 percent to 32 percent range of increase by subject; (3) science grades showed the most improvement.