Because digital tutoring is rapidly expanding, more rigorous, independent evaluations of their effectiveness is critical to inform federal, state, and local policy decisions that influence their role and application of technology in educating underserved students. The in-depth observations and vignettes in this paper illustrate the challenges in…

This study was conducted as a way to begin to fill a gap in the literature regarding young people and hobby pursuit. Through intensive exploratory research, the study sought to explicate the information behaviors of gifted young people related to their hobby pursuit. Focus groups and home visits were conducted and participants were given the…

This article investigates the motivations of African American and Latino girls ("N" = 41) who navigate urban Southwest school districts during the day, but voluntarily attend a 2-year, culturally responsive multimedia program after school and into the summer. Understanding that girls from economically disadvantaged settings are indeed…

As presented by Lee and Majors (2003), "The use of call and response is a familiar structure [within communities of color] for sustaining talk, for communicating perspective, and for marking engagement" (p. 64). In this paper we delineate the need for a call-and-response pedagogy in engaging students of color in a responsive, critically…

This paper describes a multi-media outreach campaign intended to increase children's knowledge of engineering and to improve the public image of the profession. The central element is a reality-based show entitled "Design Squad," whose first season was broadcast on public television stations beginning in the spring of 2007. The show was…

Background: Over the last 3 decades, US obesity rates have increased dramatically as more children and more adults become obese. This study explores an innovative program, Active Generations, an intergenerational nutrition education and activity program implemented in out-of-school environments (after school and summer camps). It utilizes older…

A wide body of research shows that consistent participation in high-quality afterschool and summer programs, also called out-of-school time or OST, provides substantial benefits to children and youth and their communities. Youth are more prone to engage in juvenile delinquency, substance abuse and other risky behaviors after 3:00 p.m. if there are…

Although the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 requires accommodations for individuals with disabilities in community settings, many out-of-school time (OST) programs struggle to successfully support youth with special needs. Programs that fully include children with special needs are less available for school-age children and…

There is a growing consensus that simply learning enough science to decipher public debates on socioscientific issues will not make citizens better equipped to handle the complex and ill-structured problems these controversial issues present. This study highlights the interaction and complex interplay between youth authored and appropriated frames…

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact a community-based service learning program might have on preservice teachers' science instruction during student teaching. Designed to promote science inquiry, preservice teachers learned how to offer students more opportunities to develop their own ways of thinking through utilization of an…

This synopsis highlights the main findings from "Investments in Building Citywide Out-of-School-Time Systems," which documents approaches six cities across the country have taken to build, finance and sustain effective citywide out-of-school-time (OST) systems. Developed by Public/Private Ventures (P/PV) and The Finance Project, the…

The exploratory study conducted by Yang, Burrola, and Bryan (2009) provides an excellent platform for calling attention to the issue of suicide risk among elementary and middle school youth. Using their study as a catalyst, with this commentary I consider the finding that 12% of the young people surveyed acknowledged that they had "seriously…

The number of students attending afterschool programs has skyrocketed in recent years, currently serving an estimated 8.4 million children (Afterschool Alliance, 2009). Consequently, the demand for high quality afterschool programs, and to learn from successful ones, has never been greater. This "Making Afterschool Programs Better"…

Afterschool programs have been operating for decades in communities across the country, and federal investment in afterschool has increased dramatically since the mid-1990s. However, even more investment in the field of afterschool, which includes before school, afterschool and summer learning programs, is needed to keep up with the growing…

Digital media and technology have become culturally and economically powerful parts of contemporary middle-class American childhoods. Immersed in various forms of digital media as well as mobile and Web-based technologies, young people today appear to develop knowledge and skills through participation in media. This MacArthur Report examines the…