Are makerspaces--where children can create gas-powered Roman chariots, singing greeting cards, or playdough circuit boards--just the site for a slightly wacky explosion of inventiveness? Or can these maker activities be channeled to support deep STEM learning? Bronwyn Bevan, director of the Exploratorium Institute for Research and Learning in San…

Like many relatively affluent suburban schools, James E. Daly Elementary in Montgomery County, Maryland, has seen a rapid increase in its Hispanic and bilingual student populations. Many of the school's English language learners come from low-income, immigrant families. Zimmerman-Orozco, the school's assistant principal, describes the strategies…

From the nefarious achievement gaps, to the racial isolation in increasingly segregated schools; from the digital divide that results in kids not having access to computers, to the poverty gulf that results in kids not having homes; from boys' reading difficulties and girls' problems with math, to the disparities among rural, suburban, and urban…

Closing or substantially narrowing achievement gaps requires combining school improvement with reforms to narrow the vast socioeconomic inequalities in the United States. Recognizing the effects of socioeconomic disparities on student learning is not "making excuses" for poor instruction or "letting schools off the hook" for raising student…

Describes work by The After-School Corporation in New York to support community-based organizations to run after-school programs. Provides examples of these programs in P.S. 106 in Bushwick, Brooklyn, that focuses on academic achievement, and the Family Academy in East Harlem that focuses on enrichment. Suggests several ways other urban school…

Key ingredients for achieving academic success include being prepared, taking responsibility for one's learning, making an effort, and completing homework every day. At Shaker Heights (Ohio) Middle School, after-school programs (academic sessions, a homework center, a homework hotline, and a university tutorial program) help students complete…

With structure and support, volunteers can be a great resource for after-school programs. Program managers should train volunteers with specific information, provide appropriate teaching strategies and materials, put important information in writing, match volunteers appropriately, facilitate icebreaker activities, respect volunteers' time, stress…

The Murfreesboro, Tennessee, City Schools have doubled the amount of time schools are open without raising taxes. Instead of going home to empty houses, kids participate in an extended school program offering over 100 courses in recreation, academics, arts, and life skills. Parents and organizations foot the costs; no child is excluded for…

Describes a Houston, Texas, school superintendent's effort to establish a shelter for homeless and unattended children. The project, depending on support from community agencies and featuring a modest budget, received board approval through June 1989. (MLH)

Out-of-school educational settings and activities should involve varied learning modes deviating from the narrow skills and tasks of schooling. As a Los Angeles after-school program shows, students learn better when instruction builds on what they already know, helps them express their ideas, and develops activities related to their interests.…

After-school tutoring sessions focused on developing long-term skills can help at-risk students become independent, successful learners. Strategic tutoring teaches students strategies for learning and performing while receiving help with class assignments. There are four instructional stages: assessing students' strategies and constructing,…

The Lawrence (Kansas) Public School District has a federally funded, three-site 21st Century Community Learning Center (including two elementary schools and one junior high school.) that offers academic, cultural, social, and recreational activities during after-school hours. Staff receives training aligned with students' diverse needs and…

Although after-school programs offer many activities--from cooking classes to computer technology, homework assistance, and sports--they also provide an effective environment for health education and wellness instruction, especially pregnancy prevention. Exemplary programs for middle- and high-schoolers in Palm Beach County, Florida, are…

Science centers and children's museums, such as the New York Hall of Science and the Orlando (Florida) Science Center, offer rich programs linked to students' classroom learning and provide an informal, inquiry-based setting for exploring major concepts. School/museum partnerships can further teachers' and students' lifelong learning progress.…

In 1999, two schools in an impoverished border town in Texas received 3-year federal grants from the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program to support varied after-hours activities: academic tutoring, computer literacy, "ballet folklorico," arts and crafts, guitar instruction, and service learning. Students and parents now have a safe…