A Latino teenager participated in an after school digital movie composing program called the Technology and Literacy Project. As a student of color previously identified as at risk for school failure, Horatio's case speaks to a common discrepancy highlighted in sociocultural literacy scholarship. He was competent and engaged with numerous…

This article describes one community-based nonprofit group that provides free tutoring to poor children under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law. Unlike most other tutoring sessions under the law, the one at Erie Neighborhood House, a social-services agency in Chicago, is not happening in a school building or at a corporate tutoring outlet. Those…

Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a fast, easy to administer, and relatively inexpensive method of evaluating body composition. Due to the ease of operation, interest in using BIA to estimate percentage of body fat (%BF) has grown, especially in settings where body composition assessments are often performed without the benefit of…

"Afterschool Matters" had the opportunity to talk with Sylvia Lyles, Ph.D., program director of the Academic Improvement Programs Group in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education at the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, DC. Sylvia works in the out-of-school time and school domains to keep educators' concerns front and…

Perhaps one of the fastest ways to improve the quality of out-of-school time programs would be to replace practices that individuals know do not work with practices that appear to be more effective. In this brief, the authors highlight lessons from an expanding body of knowledge about specific program practices that should be avoided or minimized…

The 2001 renewal of the United States' Title I program instituted the Supplemental Educational Services (SES) program, in which schools in their third year of failing to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) are required to offer out-of-school-time tutoring in core subjects to low-income students. This study synthesized provider effects reported in…

This article presents the results of semi-structured in-depth interviews conducted with 54 youth attending six elementary school-based and middle school-based Boys and Girls Clubs in two low-income communities. The first goal of this study was to examine why youth choose to participate in these clubs. The most commonly reported motives include fun…

This study assessed the effects of attending an after-school program (ASP) on a range of outcomes for middle school youths. The program operated for 9 hr per week for 30 weeks and included attendance monitoring and reinforcement, academic assistance, a prevention curriculum, and recreational programming. Participants were 447 students randomly…

The purpose of this study was to explore how three struggling, sixth grade readers experienced an after-school program designed to increase their affective and cognitive reading performance. Research in the areas of vocabulary acquisition, reading strategy development, discussion of text, time spent reading, engagement, and reader self-perception…

The Afterschool Alliance and MetLife Foundation are proud to celebrate a fifth round of the MetLife Foundation Afterschool Innovator Awards. For the past five years, we have collaborated to highlight the work of quality afterschool programs that support children, families and communities across the nation. This compendium is a compilation of four…

How school-age children spend their time after school is a topic of interest among educators, policymakers, researchers, and parents. Many parents choose to have their children attend after-school programs, which may provide services such as academic instruction, cultural enrichment, safe places to stay, and adult supervision for children. This…

This purpose of this report is to examine the role of after school and summer learning programs in supporting student success and to help bridge the divide between out-of-school time programs and schools by offering research-derived principles for effective expanded learning partnership efforts. Discussion points include: (1) Benefits of expanded…

Adolescent English-language learners (ELLs) encounter increasingly difficult academic language as they progress through school. This article describes the design of an after-school intervention, Language Workshop, created to help middle school ELLs build their knowledge of academic vocabulary words. Evidence-based principles of vocabulary…

High-quality organized sports are a gateway to academic achievement, better grades, improved chances of attending college, and success in the labor market--and these benefits are especially important for low-income youth. The author's report analyzes several distinct strands of research on the effects on youth of participation in organized sports.…

After-school learning, summer learning, and family involvement in learning are major predictors of children's development, educational achievement, and school success. The United States will not achieve its national goals of equal educational opportunity without addressing the importance of and inequities in out-of-school learning opportunities.…