The 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) initiative is the only federal funding source dedicated exclusively to supporting local afterschool, before-school, and summer learning programs. Over the years, the program has evolved to become a local afterschool model -- serving students attending high-poverty, low-performing schools in…

The HighScope Summer Camp for Teenagers founded by David P. Weikart in 1963, and operated until 2002, was an international, inclusive gifted education program that aided many young people, including those from disadvantaged social strata, in their personal development and shaped them in a special way. The six-week program stood for a high degree…

School systems often implement character education initiatives in reaction to a violent event. Following the school shootings that occurred in the 1990s, many school systems started to implement character education and violence prevention programs. Unfortunately, because the efforts were reactive, little thought was given to sustainability…

To help address continuing disparities in academic achievement and under-representation of disadvantaged groups in math and science majors and careers, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) established a math and science initiative in 1990 within Upward Bound, a federal grant program known as Upward Bound Math-Science (UBMS) designed to provide…

A study was conducted of Indiana's Summer Programs for the Education and Development of Youth (SPEDY) to describe the program themselves and to study the programs' effect on participants' short-term career education attitudes, knowledge, and skills. SPEDY is a training for public-sector work program operated each summer for about ten weeks for…

This White Paper summarizes findings from an extensive literature review that was conducted to identify the most promising models and approaches for meeting the needs of low-income children, youth, and families during the summer months. Special attention is paid to summer learning programs that serve diverse, urban low-income children and youth.…

Reports on Project SEED (Summer Educational Experience for the Disadvantaged) a project in which high school students from low-income families work in summer jobs in a variety of academic, industrial, and government research labs. The program introduces the students to career possibilities in chemistry and to the advantages of higher education.…