In the wake of current sociopolitical movements, research on the lives of Black girls and women is gaining momentum. However, studies providing Black girls space to voice their experiences within learning and afterschool environments remain a crucial--and often ignored--component of this conversation. This study had three primary objectives. The…

Math Girls Rock! is a year-long, two-tiered mathematics mentoring program that prepares female undergraduate mentors to facilitate high school girls' engagement in challenging mathematics concepts through a dynamic after-school program. In this article, we describe the distinct educational component of this program in which female faculty members…

This fact sheet synthesizes research findings and survey results from parents and program providers to illustrate how afterschool programs are accelerating students' academic growth, supporting their well-being, and helping working families. Additionally, the fact sheet highlights the overwhelming support afterschool programs have from voters…

The Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) is administered by the US Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) through State child nutrition agencies. Participating providers include childcare centers (including Head Start Programs), day care homes, before and afterschool programs, adult day care centers, and emergency shelters…

This study investigated the efficacy of the Beyond Rubrics Toolkit (BRT) as an embedded assessment instrument within makerspaces. Conducted as a pilot study at two Boys & Girls Club sites during afterschool programming, the research aimed to address the following research questions: (1) What skills are Youth Development Professionals teaching…

Purpose: This short article takes the play and passion of children's literacy as its focal point. Rather than orienting reading and writing around what should be taught or how children should respond and understand written text, in this short reflective essay we aim to explore the play and passion inherent in children's literacy practices. We do…

This study examined ethnic-racial socialization in a racially/ethnically diverse afterschool debate league. Using ethnographic observations and interviews, I found that the organizational culture of debate teams within the league promoted trust of cross-race peers through a norm of mutual support. However, I also found that an organizational value…

South Africa faces a severe youth unemployment crisis, particularly among those aged 16-25, with NEET (not in education, employment, or training) youth at high risk of mental health challenges and social exclusion. Despite their lack of formal qualifications, these young people possess personal assets that can foster resilience. This study…

A lot is happening at the drawing table. Children are busy inventing stories, reassembling their thoughts, gleaning knowledge and making decisions. This article digs deep to see what is going on the children's art-making through drawing and reading comics. In an after-school drawing club the author reveals how children are transformed through…

The period after school represents an opportunity to engage children in physical activity (PA) programmes in schools. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of an afterschool programme, delivered in schools, on children's participation in and attitudes to PA. Ten schools took part in this non-randomized controlled trial (five…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how the organizational culture of the after-school program within the Inn Dwelling Comprehensive Youth Initiative (IDCYI) after-school program provided by the Inn Dwelling organization, which serves two communities in Philadelphia, PA influences student academic achievement. The sample…

Background: For years, physical activity settings had portrayed a discourse that does not allow to add new and different elements in its practice. This discourse established a status quo that has affected in many ways the structure, the pedagogy and practice of physical activity settings. This is the case of out-school programs. Purpose: The…

In this article, inspired by the idea of using data to think "with" theory [Jackson, A., and L. Mazzei. 2012. "Thinking with Theory in Qualitative Research: Viewing Data Across Multiple Perspectives." London: Routledge], we explore how our ethnographic visual data will be 'thought', 'theorised' and verbalised using concepts…

Embodied cognition has been a useful means to support learning in science education. In this article, we describe a model of embodied cognition through analogical mapping that is supported through the participatory simulation and mathematical description of a link and pivot system. We look at the propensity for this model of embodied cognition to…

We investigated youth participation in three Community and Citizen Science (CCS) programs led by natural history museums in out-of-school settings. Using second generation Activity Theory, we looked at repeated participation over time, collecting and then qualitatively analyzing ethnographic fieldnote observations on focal youth participation and…