Directives are integral to teachers' pedagogical repertoire, and their efficacy crucial to optimizing learning outcomes. Based on data from a videotaped tutoring session collected at an after-school early literacy program, we describe the specific ways in which certain practices of directives can hinder learner participation and compromise…

Positive behavior support, with its emphasis on teaching desired actions rather than punishing undesirable actions, can be a powerful tool for managing young people's behavior. In recent years, positive behavior support (PBS) strategies have been promoted as alternatives to traditional discipline for children and youth. School use of PBS has been…

The current study examined whether social problems accounted for the relation between reactive aggression and withdrawn/depressed symptoms in a sample of 147 children (54.4% male) ranging from 5 to 13 years of age (M = 8.22 years) who attended a community based after-school program. Findings suggested that indeed social problems mediated the link…

In the context of a conference on after-school programs, sponsored by the nonprofit All Stars Project, youth from the organization's programs discuss their experiences and growth as citizens in a video-captured panel discussion. Their discussion illustrates how outside-of-school social and cultural development helps disenfranchised youth to see…

Grow Your Own (GYO) educator programs are a potential strategy for districts and universities to employ to help recruit and retain teachers of color. When designed within an asset-based framework, they emphasize equitable approaches and critical perspectives that combine the powerful roles of "homegrown" teachers, culturally-relevant…

John Seely Brown suggested that learning environments should be spaces in which all work is public, is subject to iterative critique by instructors and peers, and in which social interaction is primary. In such spaces, students and teachers engage in a situated cognition approach to teaching and learning where "cognitive accomplishments rely…

Positive youth development and youth organizing are strengths-based approaches to the lives, needs, and contributions of young people (Damon & Gregory, 2003). These approaches privilege the voices of youth as they engage with issues in their communities and challenge institutions to respond. Few studies, however, have explored the role of…

This study examines the academic and psychosocial effects of the Bridge Project after-school program on 25 prekindergarten through 6th-grade English language learner Mexican immigrant children and their families living in an affordable housing complex in the San Francisco Bay Area. The results of the study show that the program increased the…

This article exposes the ancient "Nepohualtzitzin" as an important contemporary mathematical tool. The design and development of "Nepohualtzitzin" Ethnomathematics Clubs (NECs) in predominantly Latina/o and low-income schools is also presented. NECs provide informal learning opportunities to develop and strengthen cultural…

This dissertation focuses on the perceptions that young people have of federal government websites and of the U.S. government, as well as exploring possible connections between the perceptions of government and government websites. Not only is this a virtually unstudied area of e-government and youth information behavior, but it is also of…

Physical activity (PA) participation levels among youth remain well below national recommendations. Thus, a variety of strategies to promote youth PA have been advocated, including multifaceted, school-based approaches. One identified as having great potential is a comprehensive school physical activity program (CSPAP). The goal of a CSPAP is to…

In this article, the author describes a program that he says has "made being smart cool." "FIRST" (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics has made a significant contribution toward progress in advancing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses and STEM careers with young people. "FIRST" Robotics…

Prevailing narrative in the afterschool literature is premised on the idea that becoming a profession is required to build and sustain the field. Little reflects the concerns of practitioners that current strategies to professionalize do not reflect the complex and diverse nature of the work. This article uses critical theory to explore the…

In this paper, we share our experience of searching for ways in which to access learner dispositions and the evolution of an instrument that we have used as both a written and an interview instrument. We argue for the importance of understanding young learner mathematical learning dispositions in order to inform ways in which to support learning.…

To identify effective treatment for both the spelling and word decoding problems in dyslexia, 24 students with dyslexia in grades 4 to 9 were randomly assigned to treatments A (n = 12) or B (n = 12) in an after-school reading-writers' workshop at the university (thirty 1-h sessions twice a week over 5 months). First, both groups received step 1…