Summer learning for many students in a large urban school district in Tennessee is an inequitable experience. Academic learning gaps in reading and mathematics may expand over the summer for economically disadvantaged and underrepresented minorities. One school district, recognizing an opportunity to narrow the gap, launched its Superintendent's…

Background: Youth from low-income, racially and ethnically diverse families are at increased risk for academic challenges and nutritionally inadequate diets. Summer programs offer an opportunity to foster interest and engage students in science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) education while addressing summer learning loss.…

There are large gaps in reading skills by family income among school-aged children in the United States. Correlational evidence suggests that reading skills are strongly related to the amount of reading students do outside of school. Experimental evidence testing whether this relationship is causal is lacking. We report the results from a…

Visual representations, such as pathway models, are increasingly being used to both communicate higher education science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education program evaluation plans as well as accurately represent complex programs and the systems within which the educational programs reside. However, these representations…

This study used a quasi-experimental design to compare the effects of an intercultural development program on students' Cultural Intelligence (CQ) compared with students in a summer research program who did not receive the intervention. Social Learning Theory guided a 9-week student-centered cultural learning course focused on attention,…

Drawing on administrative data and reading achievement data provided by two Midwestern school districts for three participating Kids Read Now schools, this successive year study provides the opportunity to study the reading outcomes of Kids Read Now students. Relying on data from the three schools, we contrast the reading outcomes for KRN student…

This study provides a template for and impact from an Asset, Capacity-Based (Altschuld, 2015) needs assessment focused on undergraduate student success. The purpose of this study is: (1) to provide a template and foundation for institutions to follow in gaining a depth of understanding of student needs and assets, as well as institutional…

Pipeline programs in health and biomedical sciences have gained attention as students who engage in these programs are more likely to enter into associated fields. In 2012, to support the mission of Oakland University William Beaumont (OUWB) School of Medicine, the Future Physicians Summer Enrichment Program (FPSEP) was launched for regional high…

School closures because of natural phenomena, such as COVID-19, underscore long-standing gaps in access to science education in the United States of America, particularly for young students. When educators have to pivot to deliver virtual instruction, it is important to identify feasible remote learning strategies for science content across formal…

Bet on Baltimore is a summer youth development program with a focus on creativity, making, and entrepreneurship created by Dent Education in 2017 and designed for Baltimore City public high school students. The goals are to engage high school students in Baltimore in meaningful work, leadership, and personal development activities and, according…

Undergraduate research experiences (UREs) have proven to be one of the most valuable approaches to increasing the number of underrepresented students earning degrees in STEM fields. However, there are many questions about how these impacts occur. Improving grades, experiencing laboratory work, and working with research staff are important…

Educational inequity is widely prevalent in United States (U.S.) public schools and creates barriers to STEM education for underserved and underrepresented populations, including racial minority, low-income, and first-generation college students. Scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) recognized a need in its community,…

The 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program, funded through the U.S. Department of Education, provides academic enrichment opportunities outside of the regular school day to help students meet state and local performance standards in core academic subjects, such as reading and math. This report summarizes the 2019-2020…

Two decades ago, when the author evaluated the impacts of Summer Research Opportunity Programs focused on minority undergraduates in STEM at 15 universities, blacks, Latinx/Hispanics, and Native Americans were dramatically underrepresented among PhD recipients in STEM fields. In the 20 years that followed, there have been significant increases in…

With support from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Merced Anomaterials Center for Energy and Sensing (MACES) was launched in the summer of 2015 at the University of California Merced (UC Merced). MACES is a research and education center, focused on creating innovative materials-enabled solutions for energy and…