Using incentives to increase participation in out-of-school time programs

Abstract

BACKGROUND Research suggests that incentives can motivate children and teens to become interested in activities that they might not have been interested in initially, 1,2 and that incentives can also motivate them to continue their involvement in these activities. 3 Specifically, using incentives can help motivate children and teens to attend and remain involved in out-of-school time programs. 4 This motivation is especially important in light of the growing body of evidence showing the benefits of regular participation in out-of-school programs for children and youth. 5 Some research has suggested that external rewards (such as incentives) can decrease children and teens' intrinsic motivation, 6 interest, 7 and creativity; 8 however, effects have typically been reported for children and youth already motivated to participate in a particular activity. 9 This brief discusses the usefulness of out-of-school time program incentives and highlights several types of incentives that programs may want to consider. WHAT ARE INCENTIVES? Incentives are tangible or intangible rewards used to motivate a person or group to behave in a certain way; for example, motivating children to increase their work effort and overall performance in school. 10 For the purposes of this research brief, incentives for out-of-school time programs are defined as follows: Incentives are the various methods used to motivate and/or reward children and youth to participate in out-of-school time programs. 11 Incentives may be in the form of activities (such as special field trips, food, or recreation) or in the form of rewards (such as gift certificates). WHY SHOULD OUT-OF-SCHOOL TIME PROGRAMS USE INCENTIVES? Research suggests that regular participation in out-of-school time programs can benefit children and youth in many ways. Out-of-school time program participation can spur higher academic achievement, 12 improve school attendance 13 and student behavior, 14 and increase effort in and enjoyment of school, 15 and it may deter youth from delinquency. 16 But such benefits cannot be obtained if children and youth do not attend programs, or do not attend them regularly. 17 With so many activities competing for pre-teens' and teens' attention (e.g., jobs, school sports, and even risky lures, such as gang involvement), it is sometimes difficult to recruit young people to participate in out-of-school time programs. 18 Incentives offer one way to boost this participation. In particular: Incentives may promote program attendance. Incentives can motivate youth to attend out-ofschool time programs. Financial incentives, in particular, have been found to motivate older youth to attend after-school activities. 19 Research shows positive associations between program attendance and program offerings that can be used as incentives, such as special art projects and recreational and academic activities. 20 Incentives may promote a sense of belonging to a program. Research has found that program activities that can also be used as incentives-such as special leadershi...

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“…The median age of AGYW living in the communities in which the intervention was implemented was 17 years (Interquartile range (IQR) [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. The most commonly spoken language was isiXhosa (40.5%), followed by isiZulu (21.6%).…”

“…While community engagement was initiated from the start of our intervention, perhaps improvements could have been made on how to better engage them. Incentives such as money, refreshments, and gift vouchers have also been shown to play an important role in improving participation in out-of-school interventions (22).…”

Factors influencing Adolescent Girls and Young Women's participation in a Combination HIV Prevention Intervention in South Africa

“…In-depth interviews and FGDs were also conducted with 13 intervention implementers and 13 intervention facilitators. Demographic characteristics of the AGYW who participated in the intervention qualitative sample: The median age of AGYW living in the communities in which the intervention was implemented was 17 years (Interquartile range (IQR) [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. The most commonly spoken language was isiXhosa (40.5%), followed by isiZulu (21.6%).…”