The Robert Bowne Foundation (RBF), which published "Afterschool Matters" from 2003 to 2008 and continues to fund the journal and related projects, is closing in December. "Afterschool Matters" sat down with Lena Townsend, executive director, to talk about RBF's legacy and continuing influence on literacy work in afterschool…

We present a concept-mapping activity, developed within a youth Participatory Action Research (yPAR) after-school program, to demonstrate how the activity contributed to young people's conceptualization of social structures as interconnected. We analyze fieldnotes from the Change 4 Good yPAR program, which includes primarily Latina/o 4th and 5th…

Passing on African dance traditions provides refugee youth in New Hampshire with a cultural lens through which to understand their personal identities more fully.

Through ExpandED Options by TASC, New York City high school students get academic credit for learning career-related skills that lead to paid summer jobs. Too many high school students--including those most likely to drop out--are bored or see classroom learning as irrelevant. ExpandED Options students live the connection between mastering new…

This chapter reports on an ethnographic study of digital storytelling activities in a semi-structured afterschool program, the Fifth Dimension. Focus is placed on understanding the collaborative production of digital stories, an already well-regarded form of programming for youth. Traditionally, digital stories are developed by authors working…

"G[superscript 2]ROW STEM" is an Investing in Innovation (i3) development grant funded by the Office of Innovation and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education. "G[superscript 2]ROW STEM" targets high-need middle school students, particularly females and minorities, that tend to be underrepresented in STEM careers.…

In this semester-long, phenomenological case study the author investigated graduate education majors' development of relational care (i.e., dispositions of concern, sensitivity, attention, and commitment to students and their needs) as they engaged in service-learning tutoring connected to a required writing methods course. The author wanted to…

"Making" as an educational approach holds promise both for introducing mentors into STEM programming and for showing girls new pathways into STEM (Wittemyer & Gill, 2014). With its merger of cutting-edge technology and traditional arts and crafts, "Making" can help girls learn about electronics, robotics, metalwork,…

This article aims to gain knowledge on how gender and profession are accounted for and expressed in leisure-time teachers' (LtTs) work in Sweden, with a specific focus on the caring aspects of the profession. Our results show that LtTs take up various positions in navigating between aspects connected to managerialism and external auditing as well…

Digital textbooks are replacing print books in school districts across the United States due to their adaptability for students with special needs, enhanced student interest, and lower cost. This is also true in the rural state of West Virginia which lags the U.S. in broadband Internet saturation. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to…

Background: Activist approaches engage learners in order to create spaces in which youth will actively participate in their education and feel responsible for their own and others' learning [Cochran-Smith, M., and S.L. Lytle. 2009. "Teacher research as stance". In "The sage handbook of educational action research," edited by…

Afterschool programs (ASPs) have become increasingly recognized as a key context to support youth daily physical activity (PA) accrual. Using Self-Determination Theory (SDT) as a framework, this study examined staff perspectives on the strengths and barriers within under-resourced ASPs for establishing a social-motivational climate for encouraging…

Background: In recent years interest has increased in the role of out-of-school learning (OSL) in improving science education and students' motivation toward learning. In Hungary, however, little is known about the practice and outlook of OSL. Purpose: This study explored (a) how Hungarian primary schools use OSL places (including the location,…

Given the growing attention to community environmental education (CEE), this study develops a theoretical heuristic for this approach through a retroductive process by (1) examining theories appropriate for a CEE conceptual framework; (2) testing this framework in diverse contexts to determine its viability, and (3) reconceptualizing the…

An important goal for education innovation is to support the development of today's students into strong and committed global citizens. Innovative programs that build leadership skills and expand foreign policy understanding are critically important to our interconnected future.