In sports, youth are coached to see persistence and hard work as important paths to personal improvement and success. They come to understand through practice that mistakes are tools to help them improve and that collaboration and teamwork are keys to success in team sports. These ideas about the importance of effort, persistence, mistakes, and…

Students in Timor-Leste face low educational outcomes due to sociopolitical factors rooted in the nation's colonial history. This study evaluates the academic impact of a low-resource afterschool supplementary tutoring program designed to address learning gaps and improve school outcomes across rural and urban settings. Using instructional design…

Online professional development (OPD) is a popular professional learning option, especially for those with monetary and time constraints such as afterschool educators. This study reports on the design, implementation, and evaluation of an OPD on preparing 18 afterschool educators to teach a content-heavy, transmedia, STEM curriculum on cryptology…

This paper sheds light on the assessment of publicly funded privately managed supplemental education programs for pupils from migrant and low-income households. The paper positions the case study as a form of social enterprise characterized by bricolage. Drawing from existing literature on afterschool program assessment and entrepreneurship…

This study examines the relationship between Japanese children's inquiry skills and their participation in various after-school programs. Inquiry skills--encompassing the ability to explore, analyze, and synthesize information--are essential competencies in 21st-century education. However, limited research has explored how different types of…

This article describes the use of a comic book to anchor a cryptology and cybersecurity curriculum for upper elementary students. Perceptions about the comic book from 138 students across 11 afterschool programs were examined using survey, classroom observation, and interviews. Data analysis revealed that the comic book created a…

Teen Science Cafés are Out-of-School Time (OST) programs led by teens--for teens--underway at 84 sites in 34 states. Supported by a national network, a new teen leadership opportunity offered youth-focused training and collaborative opportunities to a cohort of 50 teens from 13 Café sites with the goal of sustaining and expanding the impact of…

Over the past two decades, educators and policymakers have expressed growing concerns over the low levels of math and science achievement among American students and the gradual decline in the numbers of young people moving into science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers. While interest in expanding the numbers of young people…

Today's society requires students to navigate many challenging situations that require certain social emotional learning skills. Previous research suggests that skills like resilience can be built or developed (Daniel & Wassell, 2002; Masten, 2014; Ngo, 2019). Resilience and sense of belonging are factors that impact climate at after-school…

Societal changes during the last few decades have given rise to the expansion of extended systems in nations across the world. Despite differences regarding age groups and relations to compulsory school, the task of extended education is primarily to provide participants with possibilities to learn general or specific content and foster their'…

High-quality afterschool and summer learning programs are effective ways to support children and teens and accelerate their academic growth. In fact, the American Rescue Plan prioritized a significant amount of funding for out-of-school time programs because of the evidence of their effectiveness. Over the past few years, state educational…

The benefit of participating in Out-of-School Time (OST) arts programs has been widely documented in studies that often reflect impact over short timeframes. Youth arts organisations often bear extraordinary claims about the impact of programs, and the value they hold especially in the lives of those who face difficult social circumstances. This…

Modular therapies allow practitioners to design and deliver individualized child and adolescent psychotherapies using the elements common to multiple evidence-based treatments, but most modular therapies are derived from outpatient treatments that do not directly address academic or social impairments in schools. In three case studies conducted in…

Purpose: Grounded in occupational socialization theory, the purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of mentoring underserved youth on the socialization of preservice teachers within a community-engaged after-school program. Methods: Data consisted of semistructured interviews, critical incident accounts, and field notes. All…

Using a statewide sample of participants in 4-H programs, we tested associations among youth sparks, program quality, program dosage, and four types of involvement (breadth of participation in out-of-school-time beyond 4-H, scope of learning strategies, degree of specialization, and cumulative program immersion). Participants were 180 Texas 4-H…