This year's "America's Children in Brief" continues a tradition of collaboration by agencies across the Federal Government to advance the understanding of what our Nation's children and families may need to help ensure bright, healthy futures. This year's report highlights selected special feature indicators related to COVID-19 to…

Many district-led summer learning programs are at the intersection of in-school and out-of-school time (OST) learning. These summer programs play a critical role in providing students with academic supports and enrichment during the summer months. Districts offer a range of program types, but most are motivated by district and state policies…

Elevate [Math] is a 19-day (76-hour) in-person summer math program created by the Silicon Valley Education Foundation to help middle school students who are struggling in math to achieve math proficiency, increase their interest in math, and develop a growth mindset. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the in-person summer program was adapted to a…

This is an autoethnographic reflection of the process of navigating two cultural spaces characterizing the work of implementing a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) camp for English language learners in the country of Panama. There are three themes that are addressed: (1) the importance of gatekeepers, (2) the importance of…

Facilitating dialogic discussions in English classrooms is a key component of fostering student learning and working toward educational equity. Orchestrating high quality text-based discussions requires attending to the unique situations that arise when particular students grapple with complex ideas in rich texts. It also requires making quick and…

Situated learning experiences such as research apprenticeships can help connect girls to the sciences, ultimately helping to achieve gender equity in the science workforce. The material resources available in research apprenticeships--such as research equipment, field gear, etc.--may be particularly consequential for building identification with…

The STEM Undergraduate Summer Research Experience (SURE) Program provides a holistic approach to undergraduate summer student research to increase student success at Texas State University (TXST), a Hispanic-serving institution. Regarding the 2017-2019 cohorts (composed of 62 undergraduate students), 97 percent persisted after the summer program.…

National standards and frameworks for mathematics, computer science, and technology emphasize the importance of teaching all children computational thinking (CT) skills. These skills are important for preparing citizens that are literate in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and for participation in a society that is rapidly…

Youth participation in sport is associated with positive developmental outcomes. The development of life skills is especially important for urban youth of color who are often underserved and face poor long-term outcomes. To service the needs of underserved youth, community youth sport programs have begun to utilize sport-based positive youth…

In response to the call to include experiential learning opportunities in our TESOL program and an invitation by a Montenegrin community to collaborate on the establishment of a summer English language institute, we designed and implemented a hybrid service-learning study abroad (SLSA) program which included two weeks spent in Montenegro in 2018…

The Big Lift™ (Big Lift), a collective impact initiative extending from preschool through third grade in San Mateo County, California, aims to boost reading proficiency and kindergarten readiness through four programmatic pillars: High-Quality Preschool, Summer Learning, Attendance, and Family Engagement. In this report, the authors present…

This report examines the implementation of the Securing Opportunities for Academic Recovery (SOAR) program that operated during the summer of 2020 at 31 schools. The program was designed to mitigate academic deficits that resulted from the shutdown of schools due to the Coronavirus pandemic. SOAR was implemented in two phases: Recovery and Regain.…

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…

Reading motivation declines across elementary school. Although a substantive body of empirical work exists specific to the reading motivation of older children, researchers have paid less attention to younger readers. Given that children's perceptions of school experiences shape motivation, and motivation impacts achievement, it is imperative that…

"The Wisconsin Experience Seminar" is an extended-orientation style first-year seminar (FYS) that is intended to support students' transitions to college. The course is held each academic semester at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is taught by instructors in a variety professional roles at the university. The program is housed…