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…

Although designed for informal educational structures and non-formal providers, the AeroEducate initiative offers youth in a variety of settings an initial exposure to the world of aviation and aeronautics. Real-world and context-based experiences spark learners' interests and may help them discover a personal and/or professional passion for the…

There is currently a heavy emphasis on career-connected learning for high school students in New York City. ExpandED Schools' science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) Options (ES Options) program predates the newest of these initiatives. Launched in 2019, ES Options combines a credit-bearing STEM apprenticeship in the spring with a…

The aim of this study was to explore how counselors of a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) focused out-of-school time (OST) program understood ways to support students' social-emotional learning (SEL) and STEM identity development, as well as the impact on counselors' awareness of their own SEL and STEM identity. To do this,…

Background: Designed in 2012 with a first implementation in 2013, NE STEM 4U is a professional development program for post-secondary students/undergraduates, and serves as a source of outreach, content knowledge generation, and STEM literacy for youth in grades kindergarten through 8th grade (ages 5-14). The model empowers post-secondary students…

This qualitative study examines first-year teacher candidates early field experience designing and implementing maker workshops for an afterschool program. The maker workshops were offered as part of a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) enrichment club at a local elementary school. The participants engaged in 50 hr of…

Research has shown that African American girls are interested in science but not as likely to pursue science-related careers as their white or male peers. Although out of school time (OST) science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs have been presented as means to address this discrepancy and support scientific identity development…

Gifted girls of color represent a potentially untapped resource for increasing and sustaining a diverse science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce. Girls of color possess unique mathematics and science gifts and talents that can remain unrealized if not addressed before middle school. Culturally responsive STEM…

Previously developed K12 Engineering Activity Modules were modified to include a literacy component and facilitated 2 days a week as part of an afterschool Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) program. The afterschool program started in October and ended in April, with a winter and aspring break. In this pilot, 2 K12 teachers…

This formative design study examines how a program curriculum and implementation was emergently (re)designed in dynamic relation to the expressed emotions of teachers and students. The context was a yearlong afterschool game design program for STEM learning at an urban and public all-girls middle school. Using Randall Collins' (Interaction ritual…

Afterschool continues to be promoted as a complementary setting to school for strengthening science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education (for example, Krishnamurthi, Bevan, Rinehart, & Coulon, 2013). This is a reasonable idea: 10.2 million children and youth in the U.S. participate in structured afterschool programs (Afterschool…

Underrepresented populations such as women, African-Americans, and Latinos/as often come to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) careers by less traditional paths than White and Asian males. To better understand how and why women might shift toward STEM, particularly computer science, careers, we investigated the education and…

In the United States and many other countries there is a growing emphasis on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education that is expanding the number of both in-school and out-of-school instructional programs targeting important STEM outcomes. As instructional leaders increasingly train teachers and facilitators to undertake…

Creating a space for learning science outside the traditional classroom shifts the expectations for both educators and children. In the classroom, both groups have preconceived notions of their roles and of what classroom science looks like. In the hybrid space of afterschool, students and educators are free to explore alternative ways of teaching…

Current policy efforts that seek to improve learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) emphasize the importance of helping all students acquire concepts and tools from computer science that help them analyze and develop solutions to everyday problems. These goals have been generally described in the literature under the…