Just about every high school in the United States offers students the opportunity to participate in some sort of extracurricular activity, whether it be sports, music, theater, academic clubs, student government or special interest group. Unlike traditional high school curricula that focuses almost entirely on academics, extracurricular activites help student learn the values of competition, teamwork, individual initiative, group responsibility, sense of community, endurance, diversity and even interpersonal communication skills. Extracurricular activites also help to reinforce skills and lessons taught in the classroom. For example, students who join the business club will learn how to apply various mathematics concepts in a real-world context. Science clubs provide a channel for students to enhance their knowledge and understanding of concepts they learn in biology, chemistry and natural science classes. Most school consider extracurricular activity part of a well-rounded education.
Studies suggest that there are many ancillary benefits to high school students who participate in extracurricular activities, such as a lower drop out rate, greater sense of attachment to their school and an enhanced feeling of acceptance and belonging. If participation in extracurricular activities has such a positive impact on student success, should these programs be made available in all public school systems?
Does participation in extracurricular activities improve students' performance in school?
The National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS), a brief that explores relationship between between extracurricular activities and participation in school, suggests that extracurricular activity is positively associated with consistent attendance, higher academic performance and a strong desire among high school seniors to continue their education after high school. In fact, high school seniors who regularly participated in extracurricular activities reported the best class attendance–with over half reporting no unexcused absenses and having never skipped a class. Compare this with only one-third of nonparticipating students reporting having no unexcused absenses and only two-fifths reporting having never skipped a class. When compared with students who did not participate in extracurricular activities, participating students were three times as likely to be in the top 25% of their class in both math and reading assessment. The brief also showed that roughly two-thirds of students who participated in extracurricular activities were expected to completed a college degree, while only fifty percent students who didn't participate in extracurricular activites where expects to go on to college.
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