The Holland and Andre Study on Extracurricular Activities: Imbalanced and Incomplete

The Holland and Andre study on extracurricular activities is imbalanced and incomplete—imbalanced in that because the authors fail to provide a theoretical framework as well as definitions of key terms, both of which would guide their presentation, the inclusion of research studies is skewed heavily toward one aspect of extracurricular activities; incomplete in that the authors fail to provide a literature review comprehensive enough to support the conclusions they draw. These shortcomings make it difficult to understand the relationship between extracurricular activities and student development and, thus, to have confidence in the authors’ recommendations for future research. We agree, however, on the importance of a research effort in this area.