After-school physical activity programs for youth can develop and extend physical and mental skills necessary for health across the life span. With the considerable time and effort required to operate such programs, it is important that youth are achieving tangible goals and benefit from the programs. Unfortunately, many after-school programs lack…

Several children in grades K-5 are attending after-school programs for various reasons, such as academic support, social interaction, and behavioral support. The problem investigated is that short-term success has been stated and researched, but the long-term academic effectiveness of after-school programs for students in urban educational…

Background: Children's and young people's emotional wellbeing is in decline and models of good practice are needed to help schools address the needs of vulnerable pupils. Effectiveness studies have provided empirical evidence for school-based socio-emotional interventions but few examine process issues to explain procedures and mechanisms…

Background: Due to the rising demands for a Canadian workforce with science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)-related education, there is a need to increase youth engagement in STEM education and programming. Research, however, has shown that youth residing in low-income communities are disproportionately affected by psychosocial barriers,…

This article investigates the learning and academic attainment of undergraduate education students on enterprise placement projects in a longitudinal mixed-methods study. By observing the placement learning and analysing previous and subsequent attainment of a second- and third-year group it adds to the ontology of purpose for enterprise in…

As more stakeholders get involved in the effort to engage youth in STEM outside of school, afterschool providers are being asked to document a wide range of outcomes, from generating interest in STEM to improving standardized test scores in math and science and to increasing the number of students who pursue STEM majors in college. This issue has…

So far, empirical evidence regarding the effects of extended education on externalizing behavior is mixed. To explore possible moderators, multilevel-analyses were conducted in a longitudinal sample of 492 students from 51 all-day schools in Switzerland. No main effects of utilization intensity, interaction quality and externalizing behavior in…

High-quality after-school programs devoted to science have the potential to enhance students' science knowledge and attitudes, which may impact their decisions about pursuing science-related careers. Because of the unique nature of these informal learning environments, an understanding of the relationships among aspects of students' content…

Media literacy education teaches youth to critically examine the influence of media messages on health and substance use behavior. A small group of low-achieving middle school students at high risk for substance abuse attending an afterschool academic remediation program received a media literacy intervention intended for elementary students in a…

This paper examines effects of life-skills, mentoring, and counseling education intervention implemented among primary school attending girls aged between 10 and 19 years, living in Nairobi slums. We hypothesized that interaction between the intervention and aspiration, self-confidence and interest in schooling, mediates the impact of risky…

Middle school is a critical period in the cognitive and academic development of young women, and a time when their performance and interest in science may decline. After school programs play a key role in engaging youth in learning by providing opportunities to increase health and wellness, set goals, and strategize problem solving. Skills…

Background: Asthma places a heavy burden on Chicago's schoolchildren, particularly in low-income, minority communities. Recently, our group developed a 10-week afterschool program, the Student Asthma Research Team (START), which successfully engaged high school youth in a Photovoice investigation of factors impacting their asthma at school and in…

The need of after-school programs has become urgent for school-age children in many industrialized countries due to social structure changes. This research develops a hierarchical framework to evaluate after-school programs from two distinct aspects--service quality from parents' perspectives and marketing strategy from operators'…

The reading attainment of the 3,875 primary 4 Hong Kong primary school students participating in the 2011 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study ranked first among 49 countries and regions surveyed worldwide. Analysis of the association between (a) participating students' reading attainment and (b) responses to questionnaires completed…

A 12-week, 32-lesson afterschool intervention was conducted with third-to fifth-grade urban African American boys classified as aggressive. Grounded in attribution theory and organized around the construct of perceived responsibility in self and others, the intervention focused on increasing both social skills and academic motivation. Participants…