The day camp dilemma: although a park and recreation department's day camp brings in revenue, how do you measure successful outcomes? A new survey by the American Camp Association has the answers.

I remember my first time at camp. I took my first ride in a canoe. I adored my counselors and was thrilled to cook an egg over a buddy burner. I started friendships at camp that lasted for years. Many of us in the recreation profession were connected to organized camps as we were growing up. Although not everyone gets to go to camp, organized camps provide a youth development opportunity for more than 10 million young people in the United States each year. Understanding more about the benefits of this experience may be a way that park and recreation staff can further enhance opportunities for children in this youth development arena.

Recent marketing research conducted by the American Camp Association (ACA) found that the majority of parents want their children to have fun at camp. In having this fun, they also expect that growth and development will occur in a variety of ways. Park and recreation agencies are in a primary position to enhance young people's summer enjoyment, but also facilitate positive youth development through camp programs. Although exact numbers are difficult to determine, hundreds of park and recreation departments offer organized camp opportunities, primarily day programs, for young people each summer.

Those of us who were once campers intuitively know how meaningful camp was. Yet, measuring the impact of a youth program is essential today for the accountability of any organization or agency. The ACA recognized this need for research and evaluation four years ago, and in 2004 completed the first national study of the outcomes of camp. The results of this study, particularly as they relate to day camps, may be helpful to park and recreation staff who seek ways to provide and document the value of their services.

Background

Measuring outcomes and/or benefits is challenging--many factors may mitigate what happens to a young person in any type of recreation or education experience. It is even more difficult to measure change that occurs in a relatively short period of time, such as during a five-day camp experience.

Previous researchers have identified camp outcomes that can be studied. In analysis by researcher Paul Marsh, for example, he systematically looked at 22 studies that addressed self-constructs (self-esteem, self-confidence and other aspects of self) research in camps. His results showed that camp had a positive influence on campers' self constructs in relatively short periods of time across all age groups, but particularly among younger campers. Marsh also determined that camps that focused on enhancing self-constructs were more likely to affect change. Therefore, as Marsh found in camps and others have suggested from research on other recreational youth programs, intentional and deliberate programming are necessary if positive outcomes are to occur.

Most camp programs are focused on youth development. Youth development is the process of enhancing child and adolescent experience and promoting the successful transition from childhood to adulthood. Organizations such as the Search Institute (www. search-institute.org); Forum for Youth Investment (www.forumforyouth investment.org); and Youth Development Strategies Inc. (www.ydsi.org) have identified assets and opportunities that youth need to bridge this transition.

After a careful analysis from these organizations, along with observations of camp programs and conversations with camp directors, the ACA research team identified four overarching domains that included 10 constructs related to camper outcomes: positive identity (self-esteem and independence); social skills (leadership, making friends, social comfort, and peer relationships); physical and thinking skills (adventure/exploration and environmental awareness); and positive values (values/decisions and spirituality).

Outcomes from Day Camps

ACA broadly categorizes camps as day or resident. As noted, most park and recreation agencies are associated with day camps, which are defined as those group experiences that take place in an outdoor environment for a minimum of five days where campers return to their own homes during most nights of the program. (Note: A number of day camps offer an overnight experience one night a week, but their primary focus is day programming). When statistical analyses were conducted regarding differences between day and resident camps and camper outcomes in this national study, no significant differences were found between day and resident camps. Nevertheless, a discussion of day camps should offer insights to help park and recreation staff better understand the potential measurement of these experiences.

In ACA's "Youth Development Outcomes of the Camp Experience" national study, 13 of the 83 randomly selected camps from across the United States were day camps. More than 400 families that had children attending these day camps participated in the study. Almost half the campers attended day camp for three or more weeks and approximately one-third participated in a single one-week session. The sponsorship of these day camps included about a third each from agency camps, independent for profit, and independent non-profit camps. The average cost to the families per child for a week of day camp was about $200. The ratio of total staff to campers averaged a little more than one staff member to seven campers.

The average age of the day campers in this national study was 10 years old, with a range of 6-14 years; and 90 percent between the ages of 8-12 years. Two-thirds of the day campers were girls and one-third were boys. The sample consisted of 90 percent white and 10 percent minority youth. On a l-10 scale the day campers rated their experience positively as 8.8. Two-thirds of the campers reported that they had learned something new at day camp and a similar proportion indicated that they got better at some skill or activity.

The study measured the overall changes as well as changes in the four domains and l0 constructs from the beginning of camp until the end of camp, from the perspectives of both the campers and parents. A moderate correlation between camper survey items and the same items reworded differently for parents showed that campers and their parents were consistent in their views about the camp experience. Table 1 on this page provides a summary of the four domains and 10 constructs by camper responses, and Table 2 on this page illustrates a similar summary based on parents' perceptions.

From the pre- to the post tests, campers reported statistically significant positive change on making friends and adventure/exploration constructs. According to the camper data, a small decrease occurred on some of the other constructs but was not statistically significant, indicating that these changes might be due to chance. The effect sizes reported for the significant areas of change were small, which indicated that the magnitude of the change was minimal, as we might expect on a short-term activity such as a day camp.

Parents believed that major overall gains were made by their children at day camps related to the social skills and positive values domains, as well as the constructs of making friends, peer relationships, and adventure/exploration skills. Their surveys showed no statistically significant changes, either positive or negative, in any of the other dimensions. The notable aspect of the parent surveys was the moderate effect size for overall change. The strength of this change indicated that overall perceptions of change were viewed as important and meaningful by the parents.

The camper characteristics associated with change are important to note. For the national study, both resident and day campers who came to camp with lower pre-test scores (those children with perceived lower skill levels or lower ratings of social functioning) showed more positive change than those campers who came with higher scores. Conversely, campers who came to camp with high pre-test scores showed more negative change than other campers. Most of the overall positive changes were small because many of the campers were high functioning in the beginning and room for change was limited.

In the six-month follow-up study of both resident and day campers, most of the gains made in the scaled dimensions during camp were maintained. In addition, three-fourths of the campers indicated that they had remained in contact with friends from camp.

What Can Be Learned?

This national youth development outcomes study undertaken by ACA is an important step in identifying the developmental value of camp experiences for children. This analysis of day campers showed that positive changes were happening related primarily to social skills development and physical and thinking skills. Parents were able to identify changes that they observed in their children as a result of involvement in day camp experiences of a minimum of one week.

Based on these results, significant and meaningful changes can occur despite the often short period of time that campers are at camp. Parents were more enthusiastic about the positive outcomes than were the campers, but parents' perceptions are important to consider. For day camps, social skills and adventure opportunities appeared to provide the most possibilities for youth development. Future research and analyses undertaken by ACA staff will examine whether or not these outcomes were related specifically to the goals of the day camp programs.

For more than 100 years, organized camp programs have provided wonderful opportunities for positive youth development. Campers in different camps have grown in various ways. With this summary of ACA's national outcomes study, a rationale for the value of day camp programming has been documented and the importance of camp experiences for positive youth development has been illustrated. Park and recreation staff can make use of these data in their communities by emphasizing the potential benefits such as social skill development and adventure exploration associated with day camp programs.

Table 1. Outcomes as Measured by Campers at Day Camp (a)

                          Pre-Test  Post-Test
Outcome                     Mean      Mean     Difference  Effect

Positive Identity           3.52      3.52         --
  Self-Esteem               3.69      3.68       -.01
  Independence              3.36      3.37       -.01
Social Skills               3.29      3.29         --
  Leadership                3.04      3.07        .03
  Making Friends            3.30      3.38        .08 *     .15
  Social Comfort            3.18      3.12       -.06
  Peer Relations            3.62      3.59       -.03
Physical/Thinking Skills    3.71      3.73        .02
  Adventure/Explore         3.58      3.65        .07 *     .13
  Environmental Aware       3.83      3.81       -.02
Positive Values             3.32      3.28       -.04
  Values/Decisions          3.50      3.48       -.02
  Spirituality              3.12      3.08       -.04
Overall                     3.42      3.44        .02

* Statistically Significant at <.0

(a) Likert scale with 1 = disagree a lot to 4 = agree a lot

Table 2. Outcomes as Measured by Parents at Day Camp (a)

                          Pre-Test  Post-Test
Outcome                     Mean      Mean     Difference  Effect

Positive Identity           3.59      3.60        .01
  Self-Esteem               3.73      3.75       -.02
  Independence              3.45      3.45         --
Social Skills               3.29      3.34        .05 *     .18
  Leadership                3.07      3.10        .03
  Making Friends            3.24      3.31        .07 *     .15
  Social Comfort            3.22      3.25        .03
  Peer Relations            3.66      3.72        .06 *     .18
Physical/Thinking Skills    3.56      3.59        .03
  Adventure/Explore         3.43      3.52        .09 *     .15
  Environmental Aware       3.68      3.65       -.03
Positive Values             3.20      3.24        .04 *     .15
  Values/Decisions          3.37      3.37         --
  Spirituality              3.06      3.12        .06
Overall                     3.37      3.43        .06 *     .35

* Statistically Significant at <.05

(a) Likert scale with 1 = disagree a lotto 4 = agree a lot

Acknowledgement: Many people have been involved with this ACA-sponsored project including Marge Scanlin (Executive Officer of Research); Leslie Whitaker (Philliber Research Associates); and ACA Research Committee members: Chris Thurber, Paul Marsh, Mark Burkhardt and Deb Bialeschki. Lilly Endowment Inc., and CAMPaign '07 provided funding for this research.

Further information about the study can be obtained at the American Camp Association Web site (www.ACAcamps.org).

RELATED ARTICLE: Measuring your bottom line.

Although youth development is important when establishing a summer camp, how do you know what's involved on the operational side? The American Camp Association (ACA) undertook the Camp Benchmarks project in 2003 to collect and analyze data on the camp industry that would address such issues. In September 2003, almost 9,000 camps received a survey that asked questions about personal and professional demographics of the camp directors, the annual cash compensation, the nature and value of benefit packages for seasonal and year-round camp positions, and the nature of the camp programs including the campers served, the number of staff and a financial profile of the organizations. Respondents came from ACA-accredited and affiliated camps, as well as from other organizations such as NRPA, YMCA, Girl Scouts of the USA. Here are highlights obtained from the 158 day camps that responded to this survey. As in any study, the data reported could be different from the camps who did not respond. The standard error, 7.5 percent for day camps in this study, helps us understand and interpret the results.

* The typical (median) camp administrator/ director is 34 years old, female and Caucasian. She has been in the job for about five years and in camping for eight years. She is well educated (54 percent possess an undergraduate degree and 37 percent have a master's degree). More than 70 percent have camp as a year-round focus. On average she earns $42,200, but the median is likely more realistic at $34,800.

* The day camp program runs for about nine weeks during the summer. More than 79 percent of the total annual income is generated from the summer day camp program. Approximately 1,030 children were served in the average day camp program, and each camper was charged on average $210 per week. The camp employed on average 57 seasonal full-time staff (median was 40 full-time seasonal staff) and 36 percent of the camps said they used volunteers for some staff positions (11.6 average volunteers used). 0nly 48 percent of the staff were returning staff members.

* The typical day camp was located on 70 acres of land (but the average was 140 acres), while 33 percent of agency/ governmental day camps were on less than 25 acres. An interesting note was that 12 percent of the day camps were building-based.

* Most of the children at day camp were Caucasian (80.9 percent), but 8.4 percent were African American, 4.7 percent were Hispanic and 2.4 percent were Asian. The children attended day camp for about two weeks (average was 3.2 wks) but 32 percent attended just one week. Sixty-two percent of the day campers were returning campers.

The focus of the 2003 Camp Benchmarks survey demonstrates how some of this information can be obtained and used by professionals to enhance their administrative practices and to access needed data without re-inventing the wheel. To obtain a copy of the Camp Benchmarks survey, visit the ACA Bookstore online at www. ACAcamps.org/bookstore. You can browse many of the resources available or go directly to the Core Area of Strategic Planning. The CD containing all the Benchmark data is available for $35.95.

--written by M. Deborah Bialeschki

RELATED ARTICLE: Common cause.

Who do you call when you need help with summer camps? Just ask Sandra "Sam" Thompson, when it comes to staffing and training for the nearly 1,000 children who attend one of the Crystal Lake Parks summer camp programs--it's the American Camp Association (ACA) and NRPA all the way. An 18-year veteran of parks and recreation supervision, Thompson, program supervisor of the 1,400-acre, 39-park district an hour west of Chicago, says, "What ACA offers is a long tradition of camp experience and knowledge and a way that imparts that information in a variety of formats."

From her first childhood camp experience at Bradford Woods near her Bloomington, Ind., home, she experienced the joys of camp. "If it tells you anything, I still remember my counselor from second grade." What stayed with her was the power of adults to shape the lives of young people and instill in them the love that brought them to these communities at the start. And this is the lesson that Thompson keeps alive as she oversees the program offerings for young people. Peg Smith, executive director of ACA, says the strength of the NRPA/ACA connection helps those like Thompson in their camp administration. "ACA's mission is service and that meshes perfectly with the goals of the National Recreation and Park Association. We've been delivering these for years individually and together. It's no accident that parks and recreation staff are often professional members at various levels of ACA with our resources available to support their programs. The unique perspective of NRPA members contributes a valuable lesson about the camp experience and enlivens the ongoing discussion about what it takes to sustain camp as an integral feature of American family life.

Lori Daniel, current NRPA president, seconds this connection. "Great potential exists for the sharing of resources between NRPA and ACA. With the changing face of camps, it is vital that this relationship is dynamic and the knowledge and technical expertise of both organizations is shared with our constituencies."

--written by Susan Sutherlin