Only 8 percent of children born into poverty graduate from college by the age of 25. Consider what that means for the estimated 500,000 New York City kids living in poverty. It is a fact: The better educated a person is, the better her chances of upward mobility. So when fewer than one in 10 children born into poverty reach their academic…

Involvement by the adult community in schools and students' lives is an effective way to increase student attendance, boost morale, and improve students' perceptions about their school experience. This study examined a two-year comprehensive community intervention initiative within a high-risk junior high school, measuring its impact on student…

This report presents information reported by New Jersey public schools on incidents of violence, vandalism, weapons, and substance abuse offenses. It also includes information on harassment, intimidation, and bullying (HIB) for the 2013-14 school year. The information is presented annually by the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) to the…

This report presents outcomes from Public/Private Ventures research on CORAL, an eight-year, $58 million after-school initiative of The James Irvine Foundation. Findings described in the report demonstrate the relationship between high-quality literacy programming and academic gains and underscore the potential role that quality programs may play…

This study sought to determine the factors that enhance the effectiveness of reflective video journals to increase the metacognition of adolescent students. To achieve this pedagogical goal, this study followed the six-phase methodology of a formative experiment. Twelve high school students participated in a six-session after-school reflective…

The Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL) National Center for Quality Afterschool helps state education agencies and local practitioners develop high-quality programs for academic enrichment as well as youth development activities. This newsletter contains the following: (1) Afterschool News; (2) Planning Lessons; and (3) Events…

Not only are middle and high school-aged youth difficult to engage in afterschool activities, but they are more likely to have unique demands on their time in the hours afterschool. This issue brief highlights the challenges providers face in serving older youth and the innovative strategies that programs have used to recruit and retain older…

Although skills needed by out-of-school time practitioners can be introduced during training, many skills can only really be learned on the job with ongoing support and supervision provided by a "coach." Research from both the education and out-of-school time fields supports the value of staff coaching as a professional development tool, and staff…

Each afternoon across the U.S., 15 million children are alone and unsupervised after school. The parents of 18 million would enroll their children in an afterschool program, if one were available. These are some of the key findings from the nation's most in-depth study of how America's children spend their afternoons. The 2009 report, conducted…

Each afternoon across the U.S., 15 million children are alone and unsupervised after school. The parents of 18 million would enroll their children in an afterschool program, if one were available. These are some of the key findings from the nation's most in-depth study of how America's children spend their afternoons. The 2009 report, conducted…

Each afternoon across the U.S., 15 million children are alone and unsupervised after school. The parents of 18 million would enroll their children in an afterschool program, if one were available. These are some of the key findings from the nation's most in-depth study of how America's children spend their afternoons. The 2009 report, conducted…

Each afternoon across the U.S., 15 million children are alone and unsupervised after school. The parents of 18 million would enroll their children in an afterschool program, if one were available. These are some of the key findings from the nation's most in-depth study of how America's children spend their afternoons. "America After 3PM"…

Each afternoon across the U.S., 15 million children are alone and unsupervised after school. The parents of 18 million would enroll their children in an afterschool program, if one were available. These are some of the key findings from the nation's most in-depth study of how America's children spend their afternoons. "America After 3PM"…

In cities and towns across America, millions of children and youth get out of school by mid-afternoon but have neither a safe, supervised place to go nor a structured or engaging activity in which to participate. Because the hours between 3:00 and 6:00 p.m. are when young people are most likely to be affected by crime or to engage in risky…

We investigated the culture of a responsibility-based physical activity program called Project Effort as well as the school culture of its participants. Five children who had at least one full semester of participation in the program participated in the study. We collected data from participants' individual interviews and observations of their…