After-school programs (ASP) are a long-standing activity historically facilitated by organizations such as the YMCA, Boys and Girls Club, social service/community centers and, in the past decade, an increasing number of municipal park districts. Staffing usually consist of recreation professionals, social and youth workers, and volunteers. In…

Mentors play important roles in determining the working environment of out-of-school-time clubs. On robotics teams, they provide guidance in hopes that their protégés progress through an engineering process. This study examined how mentors on one robotics team who defined their mentoring style as "let the students do the work" navigated…

Based on a study with six elementary school teachers and 115 students in grades 3, 4, and 5, this article discusses ways that teachers might support an understanding of variable as students explore pattern-finding activities. The practices emerged from interviews with teachers and a yearlong observation of teaching algebraic thinking during an…

Who teaches Black students that all of who they are matters? The Kamili Approach, an African-centered and holistic educational framework, emerged from a year-long study with urban youth of African descent. Particular focus is paid to the ancestral self and what occurs for a group of students when educators explicitly include Africans as subject in…

STEM education has been reliant on axioms and purported facts that for far too long have been delivered in a banking or absorption model that is, arguably, anti-critical. Unsurprisingly, this pedagogical approach to STEM education has failed large segments of students; and, this is especially true of African American males. This study investigated…

Students with disabilities are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers (National Science Foundation, 2015). The underrepresentation is a problem because the nation's competitiveness depends on diverse individuals with STEM knowledge, skills, and abilities to drive innovation that will need to new…

In an effort to increase physical activity (PA) in children, some schools are utilizing after-school PA programs. For after-school PA programs to attract children and their parents more effectively, it is important to understand participant perceptions. With input from parents and children, after-school PA programs will be better equipped to…

To date, relatively little research has examined the perceptions of children and parents involved in university-assisted partnership programs. In this paper, we present findings from a case study of a university-assisted community school (UACS) afterschool program wherein we interviewed participating students and their parents. We also completed…

This qualitative study reviewed the preparedness of pre-service teachers to meet the needs of struggling readers in an urban Florida school. The research was guided by the overarching question: What is the impact of targeted diversity training on rural university pre-service teachers when creating performance-based tasks (PBTs) for urban-core…

The focus of this article is to analyze the systematic quality management of educational settings the way it is present in Swedish leisure-time centers. The study explores how the production of both systematic reporting and documentation works through self technologies in this discursive practice. The analysis will illustrate and discuss how the…

Service-learning is a pedagogical approach with documented effectiveness for building civic engagement and promoting awareness of social justice issues. Little attention is given in the literature to the design processes that undergird the development of effective service-learning projects. In this case study, authors report on their application…

Economically disadvantaged students face an array of adversities during their childhood. With the media having an outstanding influence on the self-esteem of children, it is important that they have the tools necessary to question images they encounter. A Visual Culture curriculum in combination with a ceramics course can provide students with the…

Previous research has suggested that culturally relevant teaching is central to teaching African American students. This study explores relationship building and use of students' funds of knowledge during a field placements practicum as tools to help predominantly White, preservice teachers achieve intended outcomes of culturally relevant teaching…

Detailing the integration of Spanish language teaching in an authentic setting, this article contributes to empirical research on the positive value of community-engaged learning in foreign language pedagogy. "Reading to Play, Playing to Read" is an innovative model for community-engaged teaching that combines learning goals from…

This brief is designed to support states, districts, and schools in developing strategies to support the academic achievement of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students. The brief overview discusses strategies for addressing achievement barriers that AI/AN students might face in school, as well as how school leaders can develop a master…