INTERGENERATIONAL BENEFITS OF EXPERIENCE CORPS: IMPACT ON CHILDREN AND SCHOOLS

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The aging of American society and the unmet educational needs of America's children are two issues at the forefront of the nation's local and national policy agenda. An innovative program addressing both issues, called the Experience Corps (EC), places older volunteers in public elementary schools in high-impact, generative roles designed to help meet schools' needs and increase the physical, cognitive, and social activity of the volunteers. Recent results from a pilot randomized trial in 6 Baltimore City schools support the potential of the program to improve health in the aging population and simultaneously improve educational outcomes for children and schools. We now propose to conduct a randomized, controlled, community-based participatory trial of the EC program, with dual randomization of 48 schools and 1046 older volunteers in Baltimore. We have a unique and timely opportunity to partner with the Mayor of the City of Baltimore, the school system, and the City Commission on Aging to scale up the EC program across Baltimore City and to conduct a randomized trial of its impact on older adults' health and function, schools and children, and society. The overall goal of Project 2 is to study the child outcomes, as measured by standardized tests and school record data, and their improvement as a function of the social capital offered by an aging society. We also seek to understand the potential benefits of such social capital for teacher retention and school climate, and the reciprocity between these important societal benefits from the contributions of older adults and positive feedback onto the older adults' wellbeing and outcomes. Hypothesized benefits of EC participation for children and schools are expected to result from the core features of the EC program which include placing a critical mass of trained volunteers in schools, having them fulfill meaningful roles to meet school needs, requiring a commitment of 15 hours/week, and providing an incentive reimbursement. Specific aims include testing hypotheses about gains in academic performance and readiness-to-learn from having a critical mass of EC volunteers in the school [Aim 1]. Aim 2 examines improvements in behavior essential to learning resulting from the EC. Aim 3 is to examine effects on school climate and on teacher retention and absenteeism. Finally, Aim 4 (in collaboration with Projects 1 & 4) examines the association of improved academic performance, behavior, and attendance in schools, with volunteer retention, program satisfaction, and efficacy. This proposal represents a direct contribution to human health in that it should result in further development and implementation of an intergenerational program designed to simultaneously impact health and well-being of older adults as well as educational needs of children. It is expected that scaling up will provide evidence for broader impact on older adults and children, and highlight the generative potential of an aging society for meeting critical social needs.