More than one million U.S. students experience homelessness (National Center for Homeless Education, 2019). These youth, most of whom live in poverty, tend to face a variety of educational challenges. Community-based out-of-school time (OST) programs, which often have more flexibility to innovate and meet local needs than traditional schools do,…

This study extended existing work on the Individualized Classroom Assessment Scoring System (inCLASS), established as a measure of preschool-age children's observed interactions in the four domains of Teacher Interactions, Peer Interactions, Task Orientation, and Negative Engagement. Our sample included kindergarten-age children (N = 117; mean age…

Background: Youth with intellectual disabilities are more likely to be an unhealthy weight and less physically active than youth without intellectual disability. Objective: The effects of Fit2Play, a park-based afterschool programme on cardiovascular/fitness health outcomes among youth with intellectual disability, were prospectively assessed.…

In this commentary on Interest-Driven Creator (IDC) theory, the authors reflect on the proposed three-step cycles of (i) sparking students' interest, (ii) fostering individual creativity, and (iii) inculcating lifelong learning habits. Each component of IDC theory pulls together a wide span of prior research and emphasizes active roles for…

This study aims to uncover the connection of shadow education with other discourses in society through exploring the self-presentation of the top five leading franchised English buxibans in Taiwan by adopting a multimodal discourse analysis to examine their homepage and brand story webpage. The findings suggest that these top five leading…

In this article we propose that educational game design should work to create games as objects-to-think-with--games that engage players in the exploration of and experimentation with personally interesting questions around domain-relevant representations. We argue that this design focuses on developing tools and interactions that the player can…

The goal of this research was to develop a greater understanding of the effectiveness of enrichment programs outside of the school setting. This study was also intended to contribute to the broader understanding of the mechanism of student school-related stress, reported by parents, as it relates to student academic performance, specifically in a…

Middle School 88 in Brooklyn, New York serves a community of students often considered at high risk for dropping out of high school and other socially undesirable behaviors. In this high-need setting, the authors designed and implemented an environmental education program designed to meet the needs of urban youth of color. The approach they used,…

This paper describes a cluster-randomized trial of an after-school program intended to build mathematical identity among students in groups under-represented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Populations under-represented in STEM include women, persons with disabilities, African Americans, and Latino/as (NSF, 2011). U.S.…

Research has demonstrated the importance of the learning support roles adults play to help youth navigate into areas of interest and career pathways. This study focuses on brokering which involves connecting youth to people, resources, programs, and other learning opportunities. We examined mentor practices in a 10-week out-of-school STEM program…

Less than one-third of children and adolescents in the United States are meeting the recommendation from the "2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans" to get 60 minutes or more of physical activity each day. Schools can help students meet this national recommendation because close to 60 million children and adolescents attend…

In a follow-up to a 2015 JFE article, the author created a project to show the lineage of various rhythm genres and legitimize the practice of rhythm play in a predominantly African American neighborhood.

There is a strong, empirical link between facets of afterschool program quality and a range of positive youth outcomes. However, implementing quality programs that are more likely to produce positive youth development require a high-level of knowledge and expertise among program staff. Training staff on the critical components of high-quality…

Public engagement is an important component of the operation of many physics organizations, such as physics departments. However, comparatively little work has been done to systematize the study of pedagogical approaches in these informal environments, which may contain unique affordances and challenges compared to formal settings. A 2016 study…

Background and Context: Women are underrepresented in the field of computer science, a trend that in part can be traced to girls' early experiences with the discipline. Objective: Our aim is to show how three girls who became strong coders talked about their debugging practice at the intersection of problem solving, emotion, and identity. Method:…