Afterschool programs can support Asian-American young people by providing academic support and culturally specific programming designed to help them bridge their native and adopted cultures. However, little is known about the effect of afterschool participation on academic and social outcomes for Asian-American students. This causal-comparative…

Though school is out for the summer, ninth- and tenth-grade students at Union Intermediate High School are burning off energy playing a game of tag on the soccer field. But that is not all they are doing. They are also synthesizing and applying key chemistry concepts they have just learned related to the conditions of the early solar system. They…

Out-of-school time (OST) science programs, such as the Lang Science Program, play an important role in influencing the trajectory of science learning for many young people. OST programs are especially important for students from groups underrepresented in science, who, more often than not, attend schools with inadequate science education…

This article examined the literature on best practices in content-specific professional development and then aligns this work with the practices of a citywide afterschool chess program run by After School Activities Partnerships (ASAP) in Philadelphia. School teachers, out-of-school time (OST) staff, and youth workers readied themselves to think…

Educators, policymakers, and other concerned adults share an interest in promoting lifelong patterns of community service in youth. Practitioners and researchers alike highlight the importance of youth participation in afterschool service activities so the author's focus in this paper is on youth involved in PeaceJam, an innovative service…

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…

Dramatic changes in the labor market in the United States over the past 50 years have raised tremendous concern that many of the nation's youth are unprepared for the labor force. Policymakers and youth advocates are looking for strategies to improve the education system so that fewer youth drop out of high school and more have the skills and…

That the English learner (EL) student population is growing is not a problem, but that ELs are not generally thriving in U.S. classrooms is. ELs score lower on tests, get poorer grades, take fewer advanced or college prep classes at the secondary level, and graduate from high school at much lower rates than do native speakers of English. Moreover,…

"Exito" means "success" in Spanish, so it is a fitting name for a dropout prevention program. Set in a large neighborhood high school in a low-income, largely Latino section of Philadelphia, Exito supports ninth- and tenth-grade students who are at risk of dropping out of school by providing them with afterschool programming and case management…