A substantive body of research demonstrates that programs for young people have a range of positive benefits including academic achievement, career exploration and development, and social, emotional and civic skills. However, many programs do not realize this potential -- often due to the lack of coordination and support about how to assess and…

Many children are attending after-school programs for various reasons, such as academic support, recreational play, and social interaction. Accompanied by high parental demands for affordable child-care, after-school program participation has increased significantly. The issue of quality care becomes important as the number of children enrolled in…

Afterschool settings have continued to be identified as an ideal outlet for supporting youth development in many arenas, including physical activity (PA) behaviors and social emotional learning (SEL) skills. In fact, PA centered programs are ideal settings for youth to 8 develop and practice SEL skills in authentic ways. However, there a several…

High-quality afterschool and summer learning programs are effective ways to support children and teens and accelerate their academic growth. In fact, the American Rescue Plan prioritized a significant amount of funding for out-of-school time programs because of the evidence of their effectiveness. Over the past few years, state educational…

This article details the methodology used by a team of researchers at the University of Pittsburgh to develop a set of evidence-based quality standards for pre-college STEM programs that center equity and justice to drive programs to broaden participation of racially/ethnically minoritized groups in STEM. With support from a National Science…

To broaden participation in robotics education, a free, after-school robotics program has been designed and developed at a public university. As part of a longitudinal study, this paper reports the first iteration of the program, offered to 12 students from Grades 3 through 7 in spring 2022. Three preservice teachers were trained as…

"When a group of people come together to share a vision for an organization, each person brings a unique visualization of an amazing running institution and each shares a responsibility for the establishment to run effectively" Senge (2006). This dissertation in practice (DiP) was aimed at addressing a performance gap of low engagement…

BoSTEM, implemented by United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley and Boston Afterschool and Beyond, is a network of STEM-focused after school programs in the Boston area that provide high-quality science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) opportunities to Boston middle school students. Through an innovative citywide coalition of…

Objective: To assess whether adolescents who appeared in an after-school cooking nutrition programme (Teen Battle Chef) sustained healthful food behaviours in the ensuing years into young adulthood. Design: Interviews involving a short verbal survey assessing six health behaviours coded dichotomously and open-ended questions coded for themes…

The period after school represents an opportunity to engage children in physical activity (PA) programmes in schools. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of an afterschool programme, delivered in schools, on children's participation in and attitudes to PA. Ten schools took part in this non-randomized controlled trial (five…

This study investigated the efficacy of the Beyond Rubrics Toolkit (BRT) as an embedded assessment instrument within makerspaces. Conducted as a pilot study at two Boys & Girls Club sites during afterschool programming, the research aimed to address the following research questions: (1) What skills are Youth Development Professionals teaching…

The goal of the University of Southern California (USC) WonderKids Program is to expose students to numerous Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) careers in an after-school setting. Elementary school students explore STEM fields with hands-on curricula and guest speakers from those fields. In partnership with the USC/Norris…

Rather than imposing more school after school, out-of-school-time (OST) programs can integrate literacy into their program activities--just as literacy is integrated into every aspect of everyday life. Program activities give participants opportunities to put literacy, math, and science skills to use in authentic contexts. However, OST staff…

College access and success programs, which typically take place during out-of-school time, range widely in their size, target demographics, and services offered. Although concerted funding and energy have been dedicated to college access programs, the field suffers from a significant research and practice gap. Studies have demonstrated that…

This case presents the design and assessment (at the Interaction level) of a student chronic condition e-learning module. The module is to be used by school nurses as a traditional presentation aid/slideshow to support their on-ground trainings for afterschool staff on how to manage students with chronic health conditions participating in…