This study explored students' prosocial efficacy and reading outcomes in a culturally relevant summer reading program for underrepresented students. From a positive developmental approach, the reading program focuses on topics rooted in multicultural education, with books organized according to themes such as making a difference for oneself, one's…

The present study focuses on the assessment of summer robotics camp designed for 7th grade students who were supposed to work on a STEM-related problem through modeling and design activities. It was exclusively investigated the effects of these activities on the STEM-related career interests and knowledge structures of students. The students were…

The American Institutes for Research® (AIR®) partnered with Girls Who Code (GWC) to conduct an independent study evaluating the effectiveness of two GWC summer virtual programs, the Summer Immersion Program (SIP) and the Self-Paced Program (SPP), on promoting the pursuit of Computer Science (CS)-related postsecondary education for high school…

This paper presents the first results from draw-a-scientist tests (DASTs) over five years that were used to measure the effect of 8-10 week long astronomy clubs and week long summer camps on 3rd-5th grade elementary school students' perceptions of scientists. We facilitated these DASTs prior to these clubs or camps, which provide a baseline for a…

The evidence that student learning declines sharply (or stagnates) during the summer has motivated a substantial interest in programs that provide intensive academic instruction during the summer. However, the existing literature suggests that such programs, which typically focus on just one or two subjects, have modest effects on students'…

This study present findings related to students' community and political engagement and activism after participation in an action civics institute. The institute, iEngage, is a weeklong summer experience for rising fifth through rising ninth graders that utilizes the action civics inquiry cycle to foster civic skills and cultivate participation…

This rich, longitudinally descriptive study provides an examination of program outcomes, student characteristics, and workforce outcomes of the Houston-Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (H-LSAMP) program. Utilizing data from the University of Houston's Education Research Center, this study offers a detailed analysis of the long-term…

Background: Summer camp is proposed as a context to enhance prosocial behavior. This context could be used to apply intervention programs, in addition to being a time of fun and conviviality. A camp-based intervention program to increase empathy was administered for adolescents at risk. Purpose: The aim of this study was to apply and evaluate a…

Faculty-mentored summer undergraduate research experiences (SUREs) have been shown to increase the diversity of students pursuing research careers. No existing studies have approached the issue of broadening participation in STEM research training by focusing on mentoring relationship heterogeneity (MRH) in the context of SUREs. Increasing MRH…

Super Star Chef is an experiential summer youth nutrition education and cooking program designed to enhance participants' nutrition knowledge, food preparation skills, cooking self-efficacy, and intention to eat more fruits and vegetables. In a program evaluation comprising a single-sample pretest-posttest design, participants' pretest and…

Offering "Early Start" programs in the summer before students start their first year of college is one of the strategies that the California State University (CSU) system has used to support incoming students who may not be ready for college-level work in mathematics or written communication. In 2017, the CSU system began implementing a…

This report is part of a series focusing on studies intended to inform the California State University (CSU) system about the implementation of Executive Order 1110 (EO 1110). A major policy adopted by the CSU Chancellor's Office in 2017, EO 1110 requires CSU campuses to eliminate noncredit developmental courses -- often known as…

This study used a combination of surveys and drawing-based metrics to evaluate whether integration of art-based activities into EE camp programing could enhance environmental orientations of diverse youth ages 6-12 (n = 285) in Athens, GA, USA. Compared to a control group, art-based EE had a positive effect on children's eco-awareness and…

This paper presents a multi-year study on the impact of attending an engineering summer school on girls' confidence that they could become an engineer. While it is relatively easy to recognise and address tangible barriers to entering an engineering profession -- such as a lack of preparedness in terms of a mathematics or physics background --…

WestEd is undertaking a multiyear series of implementation studies intended to inform the California State University (CSU) system about the implementation of Executive Order 1110 (EO 1110). A major policy adopted by the CSU Chancellor's Office in 2017, EO 1110 requires CSU campuses to eliminate non-credit developmental courses in Written…