Abstract

The purpose of this study was to apply a propensity score method that could control for selection bias at both the student-level and school-level in an investigation of the causal effect linking participation in school-based extracurricular activity (SBEA) to adolescents’ learning outcomes. The data for this study were drawn from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS: 2002) data set. The final sample comprised 12,247 10th graders; 6,026 (49.20%) were males. A propensity score method incorporating marginal mean weighting through stratification was implemented to analyze the data. Results showed that 10th graders who had proper intensity of participation in SBEA (6–15 hours a week) slightly outperformed peers who did not participate in SBEA on the performance of mathematics achievement in 12th grade. Regarding the link between SBEA participation and adolescents’ long-term learning outcomes, results indicated 10th graders in 2002 with low to moderate levels of intensity (i.e., 1–15 hours) were more likely to achieve higher education credentials by the year 2012 when compared to non-participating peers.

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