This study was an action research analysis of a competitive, after-school robotics program in the Woodland Hills School District. A longitudinal quantitative analysis was used to measure the effects of the after-school program on academic achievement and student engagement in school. Grade Point Average was measured before the program began and…

The present study explores the psychometric properties of Prime Time's Youth Engagement Survey (PT-YES) and the relationships among the survey items. Prime Time Palm Beach County, Inc. developed PT-YES, which contains 30 Likert scale questions designed to measure youth engagement during out-of-school time (OST) activities with community partners.…

Young children's social and emotional skills (SE skills) are highly predictive of the ease with which they transition to kindergarten as well as their success in the K-12 school system and in life after graduation (Belfield et al., 2015; Blair, 2002; Denham, 2006; Denham et al., 2014; Graziano et al., 2007; Jones et al., 2017; Moffitt et al.,…

This mixed-methods case study examined two out-of-school (OST) Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) programs at a science-oriented high school on students' Self-Efficacy. Because STEM is a key for future innovation and economic growth, Americans have been developing a variety of approaches to increase student interest in science within…

Purpose: The purpose of this journal-ready dissertation was to examine middle and high school students' perceptions of the relationship between their Biblical literacy practices and academic performance (i.e. grades, test scores, reading ability) and academic success (i.e. attendance, behavior, motivation, goals, decision-making) according to…

Using the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) restricted-data set, the researcher examined the national sample and the NAEP reported sub-groups of gender, race/ethnicity, and socio-economic status (SES). This researcher investigated how factors of student technology use in school and outside school, student attributes, academic…

Inspiring and motivating students to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education continues to be an important educational focus in the United States. Robotics programs are one strategy developed to accomplish this goal. This causal comparative study focused on investigating whether a causal relationship exists between…

Out-of-School Time programs and their impact on standardized college entrance exam scores for black or African-American children of single parents who have applied for a competitive college scholarship program is the study focus. Study importance is supported by the large percentage of black children raised by single parents, the large percentage…

My dissertation consists of three chapters that focus on the economics of education. In particular I look at public school financing, gender discrimination in advising, and the effectiveness of out-of-school-time programs for disadvantaged schools. The first chapter analyzes the effect of an extremely large funding shock on Wyoming public schools…

While most research on the benefits of afterschool programs has shown positive behavioral outcomes, the results on academic outcomes have been mixed. This study focused on academic outcomes to further explore whether students who regularly attended a school-based afterschool program showed greater academic gains than students who did not attend.…

What are the socioeconomic implications of the time allocation decisions made by low-income adolescents? The way adolescents allocate their time between schooling, labor and leisure has important implications for their education attainment, college aspirations, job opportunities and future earnings. This study focuses on adolescents and young…