Over the past two decades, educators and policymakers have expressed growing concerns over the low levels of math and science achievement among American students and the gradual decline in the numbers of young people moving into science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers. While interest in expanding the numbers of young people…

Educational Robotics (ER) is an upcoming trend in education. It has been introduced in classrooms to improve the learning environment. It provides opportunities for young learners by promoting knowledge-building activities. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education is viewed as a catalyst to ensure a successful future in…

Today's society requires students to navigate many challenging situations that require certain social emotional learning skills. Previous research suggests that skills like resilience can be built or developed (Daniel & Wassell, 2002; Masten, 2014; Ngo, 2019). Resilience and sense of belonging are factors that impact climate at after-school…

The current education system is failing our children. Yet the system shifts the blame as well as the search for possible solutions to teachers and learners, avoiding responsibility for its role in the existing oppressive structures. In turn, it fails to address the needs of a vastly diverse student population. This article looks at the development…

We share digital collages composed by youth in Lit Diaspora, a community-based after-school literacy initiative involving Black African immigrant youth and adult collaborators, as one contemporary example of rendering visible the contours of the educational lives of African immigrant youth, among the fastest growing immigrant communities in the…

School-age children need safe, supervised places to learn and grow during non-school hours while their parents and caregivers work. Beyond providing safety and supervision, participation in high-quality school-age child care programs offered before or after school, or during the summer, is associated with positive developmental outcomes for young…

Studies show that supporting argumentation in mathematics classrooms is challenging for teachers. This study reports on the experience of seven elementary and middle-school mathematics teachers in an afterschool classroom-based program where they had the opportunity to facilitate research sessions on students' development of mathematical ideas and…

Afterschool settings have continued to be identified as an ideal outlet for supporting youth development in many arenas, including physical activity (PA) behaviors and social emotional learning (SEL) skills. In fact, PA centered programs are ideal settings for youth to 8 develop and practice SEL skills in authentic ways. However, there a several…

Despite efforts to increase diversity in STEM fields, marginalized populations--particularly women and Black and Latinx workers--remain underrepresented in STEM professions. The present qualitative study sought to explore the relationship between sense of purpose and STEM engagement within an after-school, experiential (i.e., involving hands-on…

The concepts of student motivation and student engagement have emerged from related but distinct fields of study. Contemporary scholars suggest that student engagement is shaped by various sociocultural, contextual, and personal factors (including motivation), and that it serves as a pathway to various positive student outcomes (e.g., academic…

Societal changes during the last few decades have given rise to the expansion of extended systems in nations across the world. Despite differences regarding age groups and relations to compulsory school, the task of extended education is primarily to provide participants with possibilities to learn general or specific content and foster their'…

Background: This systematic review aims to identify out-of-school time (OST) interventions (eg, programming, policies) that increased opportunities for physical activity (PA) and healthy eating and/or improved youth PA and dietary behaviors. Methods: We searched for articles within systematic reviews that met our criteria (2010-2018) and for…

High levels of stress among supervisors can diminish afterschool program quality and negatively affect the learning and development of children and youth. One solution may be training in emotional intelligence. In other fields, high emotional intelligence among leaders was found to mitigate workplace stress and to increase job productivity, job…

Out-of-school time (OST) initiatives, defined as programs that operate in and out of school settings, serve young people, their families, and the communities around them. These initiatives are often created to close opportunity gaps that can exist for at-risk students and to meet the needs of previously assessed concerns for communities. For the…

Community-based youth-serving organizations are often seen by participants and their families as safe and supportive environments with no stigma attached to participation. Many children attend community-based afterschool programs five days a week. In such an environment, trusted adults can consistently monitor the moods and behaviors of…