The Commissioner's annual report provides the Governor and Legislature with information reported by school districts concerning incidents of serious student misconduct grouped into the following five major reporting categories: violence; vandalism; harassment, intimidation and bullying (HIB); weapons; and substance abuse. An analysis of trends…

Each year, Austin Independent School District Department of Research and Evaluation (DRE) staff develop a plan of work to describe the scope of work for the coming year. The plans that make up this document identify programs to be evaluated and services to be provided by DRE staff and provide the blueprints for evaluation that staff will follow…

This article presents six potential roles played by principals after school, exploring why each is important and how each can be challenging. Can what is known about effective principal leadership be applied to afterschool program management, leadership, and implementation? Since the role of the principal in school sites is central, while…

This "Research Update" synthesizes findings from the profiles of 13 research and evaluation reports added to the Out-of-School Time Program Research and Evaluation Database in August 2007. It highlights innovations and developments in the out-of-school time field and looks at the important benefits out-of-school time programs can provide to youth,…

After 14 years of decline, cities across the nation are reporting spikes in crime rates, which many law enforcement officials attribute to decreased federal spending on crime prevention and more juveniles becoming involved in violent crimes. This report highlights the "after-school" gap: 20-25 hours per week that children are out of…

No Child Left Behind (NCLB), with its emphasis on standards-based accountability, has put educators under considerable pressure to improve student academic outcomes. Much of the funding for after-school programs comes from education budgets and is administered by state and local education agencies. Consequently, after-school programs are often…

The implementation of programs and practices that reflect the best available research and evaluation is a new and very promising development in the out-of-school time field. However, successfully implementing a new, evidence-based program or practice is a major challenge for practitioners. This challenge is due, in large part, to a lack of…

Written midway through a three-year longitudinal evaluation of the role Boys & Girls Clubs play in the lives of the youth they serve, this report explores a topic of continuing interest to program operators and funders: What does it take to involve teens in positive out-of-school-time activities? Drawing on survey data from a low-income,…

Successfully navigating early adolescence depends, in large part, on the availability of safe and engaging activities and supportive relationships with adults, yet many preteens have limited access to positive supports and opportunities such as high-quality after-school programs that could put them on a path to success. Funders, policymakers and…

This article describes an extracurricular social studies enrichment program called the Clio Club. "Clio" is derived from the Greek muse of history, and the club offers a variety of activities to help students discover and interpret social studies beyond the traditional school hours. They meet after school and on weekends both at their…

One of the greatest challenges facing teachers is accommodating struggling, diverse, and at-risk readers. Even with the use of effective, research-based techniques, many children fail to make adequate progress in reading and may need additional assistance. One way to provide this assistance is through tutoring. This article outlines a successful…

The University of Evansville (UE) is a small liberal arts college in southern Indiana. Through a unique four-year partnership between UE's School of Education and Dexter Elementary School, powerful social studies activities are delivered by preservice teachers to inner-city schoolchildren. The purpose of the afterschool social studies club…

As state and school leaders across the country push to have more students take algebra in 8th grade, a new study argues that middle schoolers struggling the most in math are being enrolled in that course despite being woefully unprepared. "The Misplaced Math Student: Lost in Eighth Grade Algebra," scheduled for release by the Brookings Institution…

Under enormous pressure to prepare students for a successful future--and fearful that standard school hours do not offer enough time to do so--educators, policymakers, and community activists are adding more learning time to children's lives. Twenty-five years ago, the still-resonant report "A Nation at Risk" urged schools to add more time--an…

The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between student behaviors and the growth of mathematical ideas (using the Pirie-Kieren model). This analysis was accomplished through a series of case studies, involving middle school students of varying ability levels, who were investigating a combinatorics problem in after-school…