Math Girls Rock! is a year-long, two-tiered mathematics mentoring program that prepares female undergraduate mentors to facilitate high school girls' engagement in challenging mathematics concepts through a dynamic after-school program. In this article, we describe the distinct educational component of this program in which female faculty members…

In the United States, the dearth of quality expanded learning opportunities (ELO), such as afterschool and summer programs, has long been recognized as a national concern (DeKanter et al., 2000). The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this problem, as expanded learning opportunities of all kinds became increasingly limited in spring 2020 (Carver &…

This study examined the associations between parental involvement in adolescents' organized after-school activities and adolescents' motivational beliefs. Data were reported by 231 Mexican-origin and European American adolescents who participated in an organized after-school activity (57% female, M[subscript age] = 12.37, SD = 0.54) and their…

This paper describes the design and investigation of a high-school-affiliated esports program based on an enrichment learning model. In it, the authors detail the connections between esports and learning, self-reported impacts of the program and demographic differences among them, students' attitudes toward program features, and equity in results…

In this article we describe the Books 2 Basketball (B2B) program created by a school counselor for Black youth along with some preliminary outcomes examined after its implementation. This program was not evaluated for effectiveness but to determine if the program was feasible and to share feedback from some of the participants. The B2B program is…

Studies on the academic achievement of refugee students cite continuous underachievement in literacy skills. Due to trauma from fleeing their countries of origin, limited school experiences, and language barriers, refugee students struggle with demonstrating progress in academic achievement. Learning challenges continue to take place when…

In this teacher-research study I examine factors influencing willingness to communicate (WTC) on 39 students, grades 1-6, enrolled in after-school English as a foreign language (EFL) classes in Korea. Quantitative data from student surveys, was analyzed to identify student perceptions of their comfort when engaged in various types of communicative…

This report presents findings from the annual evaluation of the MacPhail Intensive Strings Program, specifically at Ascension Catholic School in Minneapolis. It includes satisfaction and outcome data for the 2021-22 school year. [For the 2020-21 report, see ED619377.]

Studies in trauma healing and teaching ESL students have been done before. In addition, bibliotherapy has been used in educational and psychological disciplines. However, there are few studies that explore the use of bibliotherapy and trauma healing in ESL refugee students. My objective for this study was to explore bibliotherapy to see what…

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, children, families, and educators faced unprecedented challenges that disproportionally impacted racially/ethnically diverse, low-income communities due to long-standing health system, socioeconomic, and educational inequities. With closures of schools, libraries, and child-care centers, many children were disconnected…

Making and maker spaces have attracted increasing attention as potential sites for supporting K-12 student learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and as a means of competency development for computational and design thinking as well as technological literacy. While interest in making and maker spaces is high, little…

Little is known about why people decide to mentor in the context of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify the motivations of undergraduate student mentors working in an afterschool STEM program for underrepresented elementary schoolboys. We used self-determination theory…

Over the last two years, the District of Columbia has aligned policy, resources, and research to strengthen its network of out-of-school time (OST) services. OST programs include afterschool, before, and summer programs for children and youth. In 2017, the District of Columbia (D.C.) Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education (DME) launched the…

This report presents findings from the annual evaluation of the MacPhail Intensive Strings Program, specifically at Ascension Catholic School in Minneapolis. It includes satisfaction and outcome data for the 2020-21 school year. [For the 2019-20 report, see ED619376.]

This mixed methods study examined how engagement in robotics and game design influenced students' self-efficacy, STEM attitudes, and computational thinking (CT) skills. Predominantly African-American students engaged in engineering and computer science tasks during informal learning environments. Results revealed students' self-efficacy scores on…