Out-of-school time (OST) is a growing field that includes afterschool, evening, weekend, summer, school-age care, childcare, positive youth development, and workforce development programs (NIOST, 2000). Research demonstrates that OST professional development is critical to program quality and student impact (Weiss, 2005/2006). In an effort to…

Current data suggest fewer females than males continue to be interested in engineering and that this gender gap is first evidenced during middle school years. One might expect that female engineering role models would encourage adolescent girls to pursue future careers in engineering and thereby increase the girls' interests in and attitudes…

The promoting responsibility through education and prevention (PREP) program is an after school substance abuse and violence prevention program for at-risk fourth and fifth grade youths in St. Louis, Missouri. Staffed by licensed clinical social workers and professional volunteers, PREP offers cultural cooking classes, yoga, and art as well as…

Once a motley mix of afterschool, before-school, summer, and weekend programs, the out-of-school-time (OST) field is fast consolidating. As in other emerging fields, efforts to professionalize are gaining momentum; the field now boasts several professional certificates as well as degree programs. Strong emphasis has been placed on in-service…

Although many program managers look to data to inform decision-making and manage their programs, high-quality program data may not always be available. Yet such data are necessary for effective program implementation. The use of high-quality data facilitates program management, reduces reliance on anecdotal information, and ensures that data are…

The proposed federal stimulus package could help to strengthen existing programs with track records of proven performance and strong accountability and administrative systems. This is good news for afterschool programs leaders who can leverage existing relationships and sustainability plans to access new funding opportunities. In these times, a…

Programs in community-based, after-school settings are ideal to teach children about healthy eating. Objectives: After completing this Whole Grains & Food Fun lesson, children will be able to: (1) list at least two benefits of eating more whole grains, (2) demonstrate skills involved in child-friendly, basic food preparation, and (3) choose a…

A "train-the-trainer" workshop was developed to evaluate and enhance presentational skills and offered to 14 youth in grades 6-12 and 9 administrators from youth-focused community agencies in Indiana. Upon workshop completion, 7 youth and 6 adults functioned as presenters of a 1 1/2-hour module on refusal and resistance skills to 95…

The purpose of this participant-observation study is to describe rural, southern, 3rd-5th grade children's engagement in running and writing in an after-school learning community called "Running to Achieve." This study provides insights into links between physical activity and writing by using one to engage students in the other. Three…

Most working parents face a common dilemma--how to care for their children when they are not in school but the parents are at work. In this article Kathleen Christensen, Barbara Schneider, and Donnell Butler describe the predictable and unpredictable scheduling demands school-age children place on working couples and single working parents. The…

After a review of the literature elucidating the status quo for students experiencing homelessness, this article shares the results of a mixed methods study. With a phenomenological qualitative emphasis, the mixed methods study explored the perceptions of parents and children experiencing homelessness regarding their academic needs and the…

Homework has been an integral part of the educational system for over 100 years. What likely began as simple memorization tasks has evolved into complex projects and sparked an increasingly heated debate over the purpose and value of homework assignments. This "Focus On" examines the purpose of homework, how to create homework that has value,…

Successful schools at all levels provide extra-help strategies to assist students in meeting high standards in both academic and career/technical courses. Some schools design a flexible schedule and offer virtual learning opportunities to enable at-risk students to complete high school. Middle grades schools can provide an accelerated curriculum…

The goal of the CAISE "Policy Study Inquiry Group" (PSIG) was to inventory and comment on policies (current or potential, organizational or governmental, explicit or implicit) which affect the capacity of informal science education to have an impact. This group represented a cross-section of organizations and entities that touch upon or…

Despite increasing number of mainland Chinese students studying in western tertiary settings, there is limited information available on their learning experiences and responses to popular educational practices in these contexts. There is an assumption in the literature that Chinese students respond well to the collaborative demands of groupwork…