Decreased funding for middle and high school education has resulted in reduced classroom time, which, when coupled with an increased focus on standardized testing, has decreased the exposure of many middle school students to hands-on science education. To help address these challenges, we developed an integrated outreach program, spanning grades…

This issue of "Bank Street Occasional Papers" explores the value of time outside of school. Educators have given relatively little scholarly attention to young people's nonschool lives. Ignored or valorized, nonschool spaces show up in educational research only as a backdrop, implying that school learning is the yardstick by which to…

The "2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans" and "Mypramid" recommend that children get 60 minutes of moderate level exercise each day. Obesity has become a serious health concern for children and adolescents. Idaho currently has an obesity rate of 10.1% for children ages 10-17. As a response to this, the Nintendo Wii was…

The Maine 4-H Afterschool Academy trained 369 after-school and out of school time providers in 2011. This easy-to-adapt professional development opportunity used blended learning, a combination of in-person and Web-based opportunities. Providers successfully learned concepts and practical knowledge regarding 4-H, specifically 4-H Science. In…

Historically, US schools have failed multicultural and multilingual children of colour and marginalized expansive conceptualizations of home and community literacy practices. Given the importance of fully inclusive education, this article seeks to understand the ways in which young multilingual and multicultural children take up issues of…

Over the last decade, high school dropout rates have declined to single digits nationally. However, the U.S. only ranks 22nd in high school graduation rates and 14th in college attainment among industrialized countries. Furthermore, graduation gaps persist among students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and minority racial groups. Reducing…

There is a need to address behavior discipline problems in special and general education setting classrooms. Disruptive behaviors are a major concern as they create excessive stress and demands for classroom teachers and school administrators to address them. Effective interventions are needed to properly address them. Moreover, classroom…

Engaging classes in every subject. Enriching encounters with the arts. Fun physical activities and healthy nutrition. Guided explorations of possible careers. Every young person deserves all of these experiences. At the moment, unfortunately, not all of the nation's children and youth do. This guide is intended to accompany the video…

Students attending schools in urban areas with high concentrations of poverty are at risk for academic failure. Besides being more likely to live in poverty, urban students in comparison to suburban students are more likely to be English language learners and to be exposed to violence and other health and safety risks linked to negative school and…

This report looks at the 21st Century Community Learning Center (CCLC) programs evaluated by Research for Action (RFA). It seeks to answer the following questions: (1) Who participated in the 21st CCLC programs and how frequently did they participate?; (2) What elements of program quality were in place to achieve the intended outcomes?; and (3)…

This case study explores how multiple leaders of an elementary school, which unexpectedly received 25 Hmong refugee students, addressed the needs of the students and families by cooperating with a community organization. FAST (Families and Schools Together), an after-school program created to increase parent involvement to help their children…

Community engagement is central to the public and civic mission of a growing number of colleges and universities, and numerous faculty members are applying their expertise to issues of importance to local communities and the larger society. However, there have been few first-hand descriptions of the career paths of faculty who engage in…

In American public schools refugees from overseas and Latino migrant children typically find themselves in English learning programs, usually designated as English as a Second Language (ESL), Limited English Proficiency (LEP), or English Language Learners (ELL) programs. Often, these children have received little, interrupted, or no prior…

The "Research & Action Report," published twice a year, is a window on the activities and initiatives at the Wellesley Centers for Women. The report typically features news about the Centers, interviews with researchers, commentary on recent events or social trends affecting women and girls, announcements of new publications, and much more.…

Self-esteem has been problematic for researchers because it is complex, stable, and hard to measure. When assessing the self-esteem of out-of-school time (OST) program participants, some researchers may think their instruments will not detect changes, either because the program does not last long enough to make a difference or because self-esteem…