A literacy ecosystem can be described as the overlapping, multilayered sectors that support literacy development in a specific region that individual teachers or parents might not achieve alone. Informal learning organizations (ILOs) such as public libraries, literacy nonprofit organizations, afterschool programs, and educational media…

Providing early literacy training for children is a vital part of establishing the foundation for the learning they will do for the rest of their lives, so it is important that we do the right work from the start. Unfortunately, too many children are still reading below grade level by third grade, and instead of reading to learn new materials,…

Creating Compassion is an empathy-focused creative arts curriculum designed to provide short-term, low-cost, high-quality social-emotional learning (SEL) to communities and settings with limited resources. The present study sought to determine whether Creating Compassion was effective for increasing displays of prosocial behaviors and broad SEL…

Young people need digital competency and confidence to effectively harness computing power to solve problems and design solutions; a core component is improving young people's computational thinking. Unfortunately, access to computer science education is lacking for all youth, and in particular for youth who live in lower-income households, who…

Afterschool programs inspire kids to learn, help them build foundational skills like the ability to communicate effectively and think critically, and give parents peace of mind knowing that their child is in a safe space with caring adults. For more than 25 years, 21st Century Community Learning Centers have helped young people academically and…

Aesthetic literacy originates from rich aesthetic experiences, one of the principal ways people gain such experiences is through arts appreciation. Sixty-seven students participated in 119 art appreciation activities at out-of-school public art venues in China. A digital education platform was used to record students' appreciation process. A…

There is currently a heavy emphasis on career-connected learning for high school students in New York City. ExpandED Schools' science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) Options (ES Options) program predates the newest of these initiatives. Launched in 2019, ES Options combines a credit-bearing STEM apprenticeship in the spring with a…

Purpose: In the United States, after-school programs have been found to improve healthy behaviors and increase time in safe, structured environments for youth, but less is known about Latin American contexts. The purpose of this study was to examine the implementation of an educational program in an underserved school in Latin America. Method: A…

This study investigated the effect of humor in religious stories on a child's ability to remember, understand, and paraphrase content, as well as on enjoyment. Ages of the children were also considered. Participants watched one of two videos teaching the story of Saul's conversion found in Acts 9:1-22. Although inclusion of humor did not have a…

Opportunities for collaborative learning reflect positive peer processes that have strong implications for adolescents' developmental experiences in afterschool programs (ASPs). However, collaborative learning, which involves considering multiple viewpoints and coordinating actions with peers to accomplish a shared goal, is often difficult for…

Increased political and research interest in extracurricular activities stems, in part, from the claim that these programs especially benefit disadvantaged youth. However, little literature has synthesized studies across types of disadvantage to assess this claim. This article reviews research on disadvantaged youth in extracurricular programs,…

Engagement in afterschool programs is a growing area of interest for both researchers and practitioners. Though there is an emerging body of research investigating this construct, we lack an understanding of how specific dimensions of engagement are endorsed in different ways among subgroups of students. Little is known about the sources and…

This document is an analysis of the problems facing public school string education and what is actively being done currently to help with the problems. It catalogs the issues of teacher retention, teacher recruitment and failure to reach underserved populations. This document also examines what current solutions are in place such as after school…

This study presents findings from a randomized controlled trial of an afterschool program intended to develop mathematics identity for students from grades 4 and 5 in groups underrepresented in STEM. Mathematics identity refers to the ways that students think about themselves in relation to mathematics and the extent to which they have developed a…

After-school programs are potential contexts that may promote positive youth development (PYD) and reduce problem behaviors among African American children. One way after-school programs may be associated with reduced problem behaviors is by fostering an affirming sense of identity. Prior research on racial-ethnic identity among African American…