Career readiness in STEM is the foundation for developing the next generation of innovators and problem solvers in our rapidly advancing society. This Spotlight will help .identify the math skills students need for high-demand careers; review ways schools can help students take more college-ready courses; examine data on student demand for…

Successful schools at all levels provide extra-help strategies to assist students in meeting high standards in both academic and career/technical courses. Some schools design a flexible schedule and offer virtual learning opportunities to enable at-risk students to complete high school. Middle grades schools can provide an accelerated curriculum…

Over one million students who enter ninth grade each year fail to graduate with their peers four years later because they drop out of school. Seven thousand students drop out of school every day, and each year roughly 1.2 million students fail to graduate from high school. More than half of these students are from minority groups. Afterschool …

Not only are middle and high school-aged youth difficult to engage in afterschool activities, but they are more likely to have unique demands on their time in the hours afterschool. This issue brief highlights the challenges providers face in serving older youth and the innovative strategies that programs have used to recruit and retain older…

Harvard Family Research Project's Out-of-School Time (OST) Program Research and Evaluation Database and Bibliography provide accessible and timely information about research and evaluations involving OST programs and initiatives. This Research Update explores key themes emerging from 13 recent reports added to the OST Research and Evaluation…

As the issue of older youth and out-of-school time is gaining new attention across the country in the context of the after-school movement, it is important to remember that there are many programs for teens that operate in the out-of-school hours. This issue of Forum Focus documents a range of promising developments for capitalizing on the…

School-family partnerships (SFPs) have been the focus of research, policy, and practice efforts for several years. Increasing the interest in SFPs has been the finding that when schools and families cooperate closely, children benefit. The more supportive links there are between settings, the more potential there is for healthy development. Such…