After experimenting with various delivery models, Dr. Walt Thompson reported the best practice model for after school programs is to work within the school culture and become part of the school, not an extension of it.  It is well documented that students are more likely to use drugs and become teen parents if they don't participate in extracurricular activities than students that do participate in extracurricular activities.

To determine the success of the After-School All-Stars program, an independent, but cooperative qualitative and quanititative evaluation is being conducted.  The goals of the evaluation will be to determine the following:

(1) Students will achieve success academically (grades and standardized test scores).

(2) Students will be able to communicate effectiveley using verbal and non-verbal methods.

(3) Students will continue to pursue knowledge and use this knowledge toward enriching their lives.

(4) Students will apply analytical and organizational skills.

(5) Students will show the initiative to be self-supporting and accept responsibility for their personal and
      financial well-being (behavior and truancy records).

The After-School All-Stars program has now been duplicated in four inner city schools - Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, Joseph Emerson Brown Middle School, Austin Thomas Walden Middle School, and Walter Leonard Parks Middle School.  In the 2005-2006 school year, these targeted schools made "Annual Yearly Progress" two for the first time (King and Parks).  Each of these schools has nearly 200 children enrolled (for a total of 800 children) in the 5-day week, 3-hours day program.  A typical after-school day includes a nutritious snack, homework assistance/tutoring, and depending on the day, some type of extra-curricular program (e.g., special interest clubs, structured physical activity, or field trip).  The After-School All-Stars has been able to expand because of sustained external funding from a variety of sources including grants, gifts, and pledges.  In the Fall of 2007, the program again expanded to Charles Lincoln Harper-Samuel Howard Archer Middle School, Benjamin S. Carson Middle School, and to the newly created single gender academies: The Coretta Scott King Young Women's Leadership Academy and The BEST (Business, Engineering, Science and Technology) Academy for Boys at Benjamin S. Carson.  The annual budget is over $1,000,000.  An extraordinary Board of Directors is responsible for raising one-third of the annual budget.  They do so either by making personal donations or by participating in the annual After-School All-Stars fundraiser.  Several of them have participated directly in the program by either teaching a special interest class or by making personal calls to potential corporate or individual sponsors.  The remaining budget comes from corporate sponsors and grants received from private donations.

The Georgia State University community has also felt the impact of the After-School All-Stars.  Numerous graduate and undergraduate students have used the programs as quality laboratories while professors have created significant positive and measureable intervention strategies.  An on-going and critical qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the program is part of the independent review of the After-School All-Stars program.  Recently, the Georgia State University student groups, "Tighter Grip" and "Softer Touch" have become mentors in all three schools providing positive role models for kids who might otherwise drop out of school after the eighth grade or never complete high school.  The mentoring of these young and impressionable middle school children has become an important part of each of these student-led programs.