High school students from low-income backgrounds experience academic under-preparedness, financial distress, and socialization challenges when entering college. For these students, challenges may begin in the K-12 setting, where this population is more likely to face limitations in college counseling, lack highly qualified teachers, and have…

This book presents evidence of a longitudinal study in teacher preparation utilizing a threefold multicultural (TFM) model of immersion. It establishes the need for culturally responsive teachers in classrooms, and outlines a proven model that can be employed to prepare them. Through the TFM model elements, pre-service teacher candidates…

Programs that seek to engage participants in arts-based programming may be drawn to creative youth development (CYD), a youth-focused, holistic approach to learning through creative expression. As the Creative Youth Development National Partnership (2018) defines it, "'Creative youth development' is a recent term for a longstanding theory of…

The purpose of this study was to examine the benefits, challenges, and limitations of a service-learning project designed to promote responsiveness among PK-12 preservice teachers (N=41). The service-learning included working with children (5- to 12-year-olds) at before- and after-school programs, interviewing site staff, and developing lesson…

Sprockets collaborated with Wilder Research to conduct Journey Mapping sessions with its network partner organizations to learn more about the experiences they have had with Sprockets and to hear from them about future hopes for Sprockets. Information gathered is intended to inform Sprockets' continuous improvement efforts in providing effective…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a 16-week program of community-engaged teacher preparation on preservice teachers' perceived efficacy in enacting culturally responsive teaching and their beliefs in the outcomes associated with such practice. Participants responded to the Culturally Responsive Teaching Self-Efficacy Scale…

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…

This research sought to uncover challenges that arose in the implementation of the Reflective Educational Approach to Character and Health (REACH) after-school programme in a low-income public school in New York City. Additionally, we wanted to find and share some of the lessons learned, to help others avoid our pitfalls when implementing quality…

English language learners (ELs) present the fastest growing school population in the southeastern region. Therefore teachers need to be specifically prepared to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate support to ELs using research-evidenced practices. For this purpose, a southeastern university integrated an afterschool academic EL…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a 16-week program of community-engaged teacher preparation on preservice teachers' perceived efficacy in enacting culturally responsive teaching as well as their beliefs in the outcomes associated with such practice. Results of the examination revealed involvement in the community-engaged…

Who teaches Black students that all of who they are matters? The Kamili Approach, an African-centered and holistic educational framework, emerged from a year-long study with urban youth of African descent. Particular focus is paid to the ancestral self and what occurs for a group of students when educators explicitly include Africans as subject in…

In light of the historical failure of boys of color in US schools, this article sheds light onto the ways in which normative discourses of literacy and learning shape the experiences of immigrant boys and how they are perceived and defined as un/successful students. Findings indicate that although these boys--deemed to be "at-risk" or…

The Afterschool Alliance, in partnership with Dollar General Literacy Foundation, is proud to present this issue brief examining the vital role afterschool programs play in building students' literacy skills. This issue brief will focus on the year-round support needed to help students with their reading, writing and critical thinking skills. This…

Within an afterschool community arts program for underserved children, teacher candidates tested prescribed teaching methods, experimented with teaching styles, and worked cooperatively with peers and faculty to enhance the children's creativity and sense of accomplishment. Students connected theoretical classroom knowledge to real-world…

Afterschool programs can support Asian-American young people by providing academic support and culturally specific programming designed to help them bridge their native and adopted cultures. However, little is known about the effect of afterschool participation on academic and social outcomes for Asian-American students. This causal-comparative…