Marzano (2003) identified 11 factors that positively influence student achievement. Those factors can be divided into three categories: school-level practices, teacher-level practices, and student-level characteristics. Interestingly, Marzano (2000) found that school- and teacher-level influences account for only 20% of the variance in student achievement and that student-level characteristics account for an astounding 80%. To have a more profound impact on student achievement, school leaders must attend to the student-level characteristics, and after-school programs are one way to target students' home environment, background knowledge, and motivation. At their best, after-school programs enhance youth development with enrichment opportunities--arts, crafts, homework help, sports, and recreation activities--and support academic development with challenging activities that connect to (but do not repeat) what students do in the classroom. Maximizing the strengths of the after-school environment and connecting its goals to the school's will help leaders meet the needs of the whole student and motivate that student to meet new people, to come to school each day, and to set goals and attain them.