Although researchers and policymakers have focused on school as the critical place in which learning occurs, organized youth programs offer different environments in which early adolescents can learn. However, early adolescent learning in organized youth programs is an under-researched area of learning, which may limit the ability of youth…

Background: Everyday digital technologies play an important role in mediating human activity that is socio-political and humanizing. The everyday cyborg engages in speculative fabulation that is about fantastical new world-making in times of multiple crises. The work presented in this article builds on previous projects that have examined how…

The Summer and Afterschool Needs Assessment helps youth serving programs and organizations learn best practices and identify areas where they might benefit from guidance or support. The Needs Assessment draws from the best available evidence on what constitutes high-quality afterschool and summer learning programs and organizes these Success…

Three years after the onset of the pandemic, there is little evidence of academic recovery in the U.S. The latest data reveal a sobering reality: In spite of many school districts' efforts to accelerate learning, students remain far behind pre-pandemic levels of achievement. Even more troubling, many students did not accelerate their progress at…

Given that learning is not neutral or politically innocent (Giroux, 1983) and education is shaped by one's sociopolitical context (Paris & Alim, 2017), this paper shifts understandings of learning from the individual to the collective, centering community as a framework for reimagining education to advance equity. This paper explores the…

Stories of children moving in and out of refugee camps are not uncommon yet are often overshadowed by the dominant narratives of oppression, political failure, and war -- the stories "told of" rather than "told by" refugees. Dominant narratives on refugees largely shape perceptions about children and youth in displacement as…

The purpose of this quantitative comparative study was to determine the differences in literacy and mathematics pass rates between AY 2021-2022 and AY 2022-2023, whether a 21st CCLC Program contributed to score differences and whether there is an interaction between them in a southeastern state. A two-way mixed ANOVA was used to answer the…

The purpose of this study was to identify what knowledge base on English learners (ELs) emerges when pre-service teachers participate in an early field experience in a community-based organization that has been embedded in existing teacher preparation coursework. Using the action research cycle of plan, act, observe, and reflect, researchers…

In line with best practices for high-quality out-of-school time (OST) programming and youth development, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) programming focuses on the program environment, the establishment of positive relationships, opportunities for youth development, and opportunities for families to engage. Research has consistently shown…

Children continuously engage in developing theories about how the world works as they inquire through play and interactions with others. In this study, we investigated children's in-process thinking in the form of working theories about language as they participated in engagements around dual language picturebooks in an afterschool club. Our…

This study reports the measured impact of attendance at after school science club (ASSC) on the progress and attainment of Key stages 3 and 4 students in a coeducation academy in the UK. The research was experimental in design and collected data from both a control and an experimental group of participants, 17 and 140 respectively. Data were…

Finding staff to hire or staffing shortages, and maintaining staff levels through health concerns and safety protocols are the top two concerns among afterschool providers based on the "Afterschool in the Time of COVID-19" Wave 6 survey, conducted by Edge Research between November 1 and December 13, 2021. While staffing challenges are…

A critical component of resilience for many Native American communities is their ability to sustain their culture and identity through deep connections with homelands, Native language, ceremonial practices, and tribal communities. Native American youth living off of tribal lands, often in urban regions, are faced with unique pressure to negotiate…

This memo from James F. Lane Senior Advisor, Office of the Secretary, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, announces the supplemental grant awards under the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and provides recommendations for how to support evidence-based practices intended to increase attendance and engagement of students in the middle…

Aiming to promote equity in computing, this study proposes an educational model that offers an alternative approach to inspire K-12 students to become interested in CS and develop their computational thinking (CT) skills. It also examines the experience of marginalized students during the COVID pandemic in a learning environment grounded in the…