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,…

Science opportunities in out-of-school time (OST) programs hold potential for expanding access to science, engineering, and technology (SET) pathways for populations that have not participated in these fields at equitable rates (Coalition for Science After School, 2014). This mixed-methods study examines the relationship between the diversity of…

Youth rely on mentors to provide camaraderie, encouragement, and guidance. The authors asserted that the measurement of youth-mentor relationship would vastly improve the reaching effects of mentorship and expose areas of potential improvement. A questionnaire was given to youth at the beginning and end of a small group mentoring program. The…

Purpose: This study seeks to evaluate the application of a social-virtual curriculum delivered through in-classroom and web-based activities, aiming to develop youth's social-cultural skills, cultural competency and multicultural awareness. Specifically, the study evaluates the overall impact of the curriculum to the participating youth's…

4-H Bloco Drum and Dance is an afterschool program that teaches adolescents drumming, dancing, and theater arts in the rich traditions of Brazilian Carnaval. Teens learn to express themselves in a variety of modalities and perform at community events. The program was developed by a community coalition that included 4-H, other youth programs, and…

A review of the social needs of adolescents in Glendale (California) and elsewhere was conducted to determine the needs and potential support for the proposed Glendale Teen Support Center (GTSC) and to provide documentation for the Center's future funding requests. The GTSC was conceived as an after-school social center that would provide a…

Although community-based education support organizations are second only to public schools in the number of young people they serve each year, there has been little substantive research on these organizations and the education support they provide. With funding from the Walter S. Johnson Foundation, a 10-month study of neighborhood-based…

An urban university music education department and an outreach organization partnered to provide after-school music classes for at-risk children. Fourteen music education majors were recruited to teach 125 first through fifth graders (6-12 years of age), whose ethnicity was 55 percent Hispanic and 45 percent African-American. Classes included…