As part of its 2011 commitment to the Partnership for Healthier America, the YMCA of the USA (Y-USA) pledged that by 2015, 85 percent of its local Y associations with early childhood or afterschool programs would have at least one program site that met 100 percent of the Y-USA's healthy eating and physical activity (HEPA) standards. To inform…

Little is known about how the adoption of evidence-based physical activity (PA) curricula by out-of-school time (OST) programs affects children's physical fitness, and there are no clear guidelines of what constitutes reasonable gains given the types of PA instruction currently offered in these programs. Using a three-wave,…

This article examines the extent to which participation in a large urban afterschool program had an impact on reducing participants' future juvenile crime rate. The research tracked the academic and juvenile crime histories for a sample of 6,000 students, including 2,000 participants in LA's BEST and 4,000 matched control students not…

Afterschool programs linked to schools provide opportunities to keep children safe and engage them in enrichment activities that can support their growth and development. Often, these programs are led by afterschool directors with a background in youth development and no experience or education in leading in educational environments. These…

Education Northwest partnered with Oregon Mathematics, Engineering & Science Achievement (MESA) to measure the effect of program participation by comparing academic outcomes of two groups of students: those who participated in MESA and a matched group of peers who did not. All things that we could measure and are linked to student academic…

The lives of middle school students are dynamic, and their needs and desires are always evolving. They experience more complicated lives as influences of the broader society including popular media and technology, immigration and cultural diversity, amplified political divisiveness, and bullying effect their daily lives both in and out of school.…

Science opportunities in out-of-school time (OST) programs hold potential for expanding access to science, engineering, and technology (SET) pathways for populations that have not participated in these fields at equitable rates (Coalition for Science After School, 2014). This mixed-methods study examines the relationship between the diversity of…

In recent years the Jewish community has witnessed a growth in the development of Jewish afterschool programs that provide childcare as well as Jewish educational programming to elementary age children. This possible trend may represent a diversification of options for families seeking to provide Jewish education and Jewish experiences for their…

Economic forecasts predict an unprecedented shortage of STEM workers in the United States. This study examined the vocational anticipatory socialization factors and classroom stratagems influencing middle school students' science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) career development. Student attitudes towards STEM content areas and…

A strong and vibrant economy is reliant on a strong and vibrant workforce equipped with the necessary skills, competencies, and knowledge. Afterschool and summer learning programs play an integral role readying students for their career pathways; not only helping them develop the foundational skills that are critical across the different contexts…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to discuss how the superhero genre, when couched in a space and project that seek to act as a counter-world and is rooted in the life experiences of youth, can allow Latinx elementary school students the opportunity to create counter-stories. Such stories facilitated the process of creating "critical…

While data for the 2020 edition of America After 3PM were collected pre-pandemic, to accompany the data and determine how the pandemic has affected families' needs during the hours after school, the Afterschool Alliance commissioned a nationally representative follow-up survey of parents in October 2020. The follow-up survey found that afterschool…

After-school PA programs have been used as an outlet to help children increase PA levels. To attract children and their parents, it is important to understand perceptions about programs. With child and parent input, researchers and practitioners will better be able to increase PA with activities the children enjoy and encourage increased PA. A…

This article explores the nature of teachers' involvement in child-managed play. We approached this didactic issue through analysis of interactional situations in a kindergarten and an after-school programme and by drawing on relational theory and the concept of "pedagogical tact". Qualitative material was gathered from observations and…

Afterschool programs (ASPs) have become increasingly recognized as a key context to support youth daily physical activity (PA) accrual. The purpose of the present study was to assess the physical and social-motivational climate characteristics of ASPs associated with youth PA, and variations in contextual correlates of PA by youth sex. Systematic…