Parental Satisfaction and Expectations: Evaluating the Impact of an After-School Program for Children with Special Needs

This study evaluated parental satisfaction and expectations regarding an After-School Progra, (ASP) at a public elementary school's Special Education (SPED) Center in Cebu, Philippines, for the School year 2024-2025, addressing a critical service void in inclusive education. After-School Programs are recognized as vital for providing essential, academic, social and emotional support for Children with special needs (CSNs). A quantitative survey designed assessed the implementation of various activities and correlated them with overall parental satisfaction. Results showed parents were Highly Satisfied overall with the program's ability to support their child's special needs, particularly commending staff communication, the inclusive environment and a comprehensive development approach. Life Skills Training and Social Skills Development were the most successful and demonstrated a strong-to-moderate positive correlation with parental satisfaction, establishing them as primary drivers of program approval. Conversely, Yoga/Gymnastics and Coding were rated as partially implemented. Despite poor implementation, all academic components (Reading, Science, and Coding) showed significant positive correlation with satisfaction, indicating high parental value and expectation for comprehensive cognitive development. Therefore, these findings validate the ASP as a high-quality intervention while identifying specific areas, particularly STEM and certain physical activities, that require immediate restructuring to fully meet parental expectations and optimize outcomes.