From 2020-2022, seven national foundations collectively supported the out-of-school time (OST) field to withstand, recover, reopen and re-imagine, through the acute phases of the COVID pandemic and the ongoing impact. The funders pooled their resources through Grantmakers for Education (EdFunders), providing grants to national intermediaries…

Children and youth have benefited from afterschool programs in terms of academic, physical health, school attendance, promotion, graduation, and social and emotional outcomes. Afterschool programming in general--and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) afterschool programming in particular--is also popular among school officials and…

Despite high scores and abilities, girls lose interest in science and math throughout middle school. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs in the computer science research field will grow 19% by 2026; however, only 18% of the bachelor's degrees in computer science are earned by women in the United States (ComputerScience.org, 2021).…

Purpose: In a Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) program, Hellison noted that transferring responsibility values to areas beyond the gym was the most important aspect of a responsibility-based program. The purpose of this study was to examine how the use of guided discovery strategies in a TPSR program impacts and promotes how…

This study explored children's perceptions of a canine-assisted social-emotional learning program developed within the framework of a canine therapy program at a mid-sized Canadian university. Data collection made use of interviews, field notes, and observations. Children (N = 8, 5-11 years) from an after-school program participated in a six-week…

Learning mathematics is as much about developing relationships with mathematics as the development of mathematics concepts and skills. Mathematics clubs usually support learners to develop relationships with mathematics through engaging with challenging mathematics problems, exploring mathematical ideas, and communicating and sharing their ideas.…

The purpose of this study was to identify the internal and external factors that support the academic and career resourcefulness of adolescents from underserved backgrounds. This mixed-methods study examined the experiences of 13 low-income adolescent participants who lived in public housing and participated in an afterschool program in the…

Purpose: This study aims to explore how youth poets wrote in a community of practice and how their out-of-school poetry writing contributed toward developing disciplinary literacy. Design/methodology/approach: In this qualitative case study, the authors studied youth's writing by drafting narrative field notes, collecting student writing and…

Background: Service-learning is an approach in teacher education to expose pre-service teachers (PSTs) to experiences they will encounter when they enter the profession. During these service-learning experiences, PSTs experience issues related to behavior. K-12 students are increasingly diverse, and teachers and schools must adapt to meet their…

Through an exploration of an afterschool writing club for middle school girls of Color (GOC), this article puts forth the argument that GOC consistently leverage incisive critiques of schooling through multiple literacies, including embodied and experiential ways of knowing and communicating. However, oftentimes, these critiques are ignored…

In an attempt to respond to the calls for dance educators to explore alternatives to harmful authoritarian teaching practices, we propose that one such route forward is an Activist Approach to teaching, which was originally developed in physical education contexts as a student-centered, inquiry-based approach that attends to issues of embodiment…

Earning a high school diploma is a milestone that has been linked to many later life outcomes, from employment to incarceration to physical health, and impacts society as a whole through tax revenues and government spending. Yet, youth leaving school prior to obtaining a diploma remains a challenge nationwide, particularly in large cities. Given…

In the 21st century, the demand for proficiency in mathematics has escalated, as it underpins critical thinking, problem-solving, and innovation in various fields. Recognizing the significance of mathematics education, after-school programs have emerged as potent supplementary platforms to enhance students' mathematical skills and achievement.…

There has been marked progress in access to education, representation of women in leadership, sexual reproductive health, and gender-based violence as a result of gender equality initiatives. However, there is still a strong focus on interventions targeting girls only. Through the adolescents' lens, this study sought to establish if there is a…

This qualitative dissertation aimed to understand if an after-school kinesiology service-learning program changed the relationship between a large Research I institution and a local public school. Eight 7th- and 8th-grade students, three classroom teachers, and one administrator participated. Data collection methods included semistructured…