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Learning and Development in After-School Programs

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... There are many different types of after-school programs that offer various opportunities for tutoring and instruction. After School Matters, in Chicago, offers project-based learning designed to enhance students' soft skills, as well as produce a final product based on activities conducted with the students (Hirsch, 2011). This program is run by instructors with expertise in the discipline; soft skills learned include teamwork and communication in order for the project to be completed (Hirsch, 2011). ...
... After School Matters, in Chicago, offers project-based learning designed to enhance students' soft skills, as well as produce a final product based on activities conducted with the students (Hirsch, 2011). This program is run by instructors with expertise in the discipline; soft skills learned include teamwork and communication in order for the project to be completed (Hirsch, 2011). Project-based clubs such as 4-H programs offer students an opportunity to plan an event or complete a project. ...
... Many are scientifically oriented, combining research and experimentation into the studies. These clubs are staffed primarily by volunteers (Hirsch, 2011). Another, possibly more familiar extracurricular program, is the Boys and Girls Club of America (BGCA). ...
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Science process skills were scaffolded throughout instruction over the ten-week program. The culminating project included the development, design, and testing of their own independent science fair project. The results reflect an increase in students’ self-efficacy which was evidenced by the students’ preparation and presentation of their projects in the science fair.
... There are many different types of after-school programs that offer various opportunities for tutoring and instruction. After School Matters, in Chicago, offers project-based learning designed to enhance students' soft skills, as well as produce a final product based on activities conducted with the students (Hirsch, 2011). This program is run by instructors with expertise in the discipline; soft skills learned include teamwork and communication in order for the project to be completed (Hirsch, 2011). ...
... After School Matters, in Chicago, offers project-based learning designed to enhance students' soft skills, as well as produce a final product based on activities conducted with the students (Hirsch, 2011). This program is run by instructors with expertise in the discipline; soft skills learned include teamwork and communication in order for the project to be completed (Hirsch, 2011). Project-based clubs such as 4-H programs offer students an opportunity to plan an event or complete a project. ...
... Many are scientifically oriented, combining research and experimentation into the studies. These clubs are staffed primarily by volunteers (Hirsch, 2011). Another, possibly more familiar extracurricular program, is the Boys and Girls Club of America (BGCA). ...
Article
Full-text available
10.5590/JERAP.2021.11.1.18Science process skills were scaffolded throughout instruction over the ten-week program. The culminating project included the development, design, and testing of their own independent science fair project. The results reflect an increase in students’ self-efficacy which was evidenced by the students’ preparation and presentation of their projects in the science fair.
... In after-school programs, youth relationships with adults tend to fall somewhere between those held with teachers and parents; adults in after-school often engage in both academically focused activity as well as more informal conversations around social and emotional development (Hirsch, 2011). Strong relationships with adults facilitate youth participation in after-school programs (Gambone & Arbreton, 1997), and these relationships may be the foundation for both academic skills (Grossman et al., 2002), as well as the social and emotional aspects of positive youth development (Jones & Deutsch, 2011). ...
... Other youth reported high intrinsic motivation, concentration, and challenge in both sport-and academically-focused after-school programs (Larson & Kleiber, 1993). Fun and engaging activities requiring focus help students develop these critical academic competencies (Shernoff & Vandell, 2007), suggesting that after-school environments may be ideal settings to leverage the sense of group belonging and informal climate that can deepen interest development (Hirsch, 2011;Larson, 2000;. Autonomy support through external mechanisms, such as an encouraging teacher, can trigger situational interest in classroom settings and can be especially crucial to sustaining interest into further phases (Hidi & Renninger, 2006), reiterating the role of adults in these programs. ...
Article
An increasing focus on academics in after-school programs overlooks the substantial potential for such spaces to support populations of students who are also most likely to disengage from traditional schooling, including low-income students of color. This misplaced focus further ignores significant disparities in the types of services offered after-school. For wealthier students, after-school programs often serve as enrichment experiences in preparation for college and career, not as extended forms of child care or schooling. All students deserve access to after-school spaces that support individual interest and identity development and link them to the social resources that can promote upward mobility. Given their non-academic benefits, we recommend that policy makers and researchers reframe their understanding of after-school programs to support more equitable outcomes for marginalized youth.
... Participation in extended education programs has been associated with improved academic achievement, and improved linguistic and social development of ELs (Hirsch, 2011). The body of research on the general benefits of learning through extended education, including afterschool and summer learning programs, is robust and encouraging. ...
... (Anderson-Butcher, 2010;Huang & Cho, 2009;Sanger, 2011). Programs in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York also staff programs from the same or similar neighborhoods who share students linguistic and cultural backgrounds, to help students cope with school stresses and develop the knowledge, attitudes, and skills to help young navigate the complexities of society (Hirsch, 2011;Farmer-Hinton, et al, 2009;Wong, 2010). One positive consequence of recruiting staff directly from the school's surrounding community is that the extended education staff members often develop long-term careers in education and fill critical administrative and instructional roles within the school. ...
Chapter
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Across the globe, recent decades have brought huge growth of private supplementary education delivered alongside regular schooling. Some types of supplementary education are widely called shadow education because their curricula mimic those of mainstream classes. In Cambodia, supplementary parallel classes are commonly taught by the same teachers as in regular schooling, to some of the same students, and in their own schools. When recruiting students for the private lessons, the teachers use the authority conferred on them as teachers. This can damage trust in the school system, but most families lack power to challenge the arrangements. While Cambodia may be an extreme case, the chapter suggests that basic patterns have relevance to many countries.
... Participation in extended education programs has been associated with improved academic achievement, and improved linguistic and social development of ELs (Hirsch, 2011). The body of research on the general benefits of learning through extended education, including afterschool and summer learning programs, is robust and encouraging. ...
... (Anderson-Butcher, 2010;Huang & Cho, 2009;Sanger, 2011). Programs in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York also staff programs from the same or similar neighborhoods who share students linguistic and cultural backgrounds, to help students cope with school stresses and develop the knowledge, attitudes, and skills to help young navigate the complexities of society (Hirsch, 2011;Farmer-Hinton, et al, 2009;Wong, 2010). One positive consequence of recruiting staff directly from the school's surrounding community is that the extended education staff members often develop long-term careers in education and fill critical administrative and instructional roles within the school. ...
Chapter
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Although it is assumed that all-day schools have the potential to promote extended education, research showed that this potential is not used to its full extent. One reason could be that the implementation of innovative concepts is highly complex. In this chapter, we describe one approach to implementing innovation at all-day schools using a theory-driven analytical framework for developmental processes. One typical advantage of all-day schools is extra learning time which can be used to support students more individually, for instance by fostering self-regulated learning (SRL). Therefore, we focus on the implementation of an innovative SRL training program. With regard to the theoretical model, our implementation was structured into three phases: firstly, we evaluated a newly developed SRL training program using a complex experimental field study design. Secondly, we provided teacher training in order to qualify teachers to conduct the training, and we evaluated this approach in a quasi-experimental design. Thirdly, we focused the adaptation of school organizational factors in order to sustainably foster the students’ SRL competencies. The implementation of innovation presented in this chapter could be seen as a contribution to fostering the optimal usage of the allday schools’ added opportunities (e.g. extra time) in order to support students more individually.
... The emphasis upon play and recreation, distinguishes the culture of SAC as different to that of schools which are 'bound by curricular requirements set by policy makers' (Hirsch 2011, 68) whereas children attending SAC engage in other activities not mandated by school attendance (Hirsch 2011;Lauer et al. 2006). The propensity for leisure, i.e. 'non-school activities that are freely chosen and/or independent of schooling/work' (Kelly 2009, 55) is paramount. ...
... The preceding discussion underpins many of the benefits associated with SAC such as opportunities to socialise, relax, play, be creative, pursue interests and re-energise. SAC also enhances and supports children's social and emotional development/well-being (Hirsch 2011) offering them opportunities for self-expression, exploring their talents, and forming relationships with supportive adults (Hurd and Deutsch 2017). SAC services are considered important contexts of childhood constituting the main locations outside of school where children play and socialise together and, provide opportunities for children's holistic development with regards to social skills, independence and risk taking (Simoncini, Cartmel, and Young 2015). ...
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The social pedagogic tradition has been integral to the culture of early childhood education including School Age Childcare (SAC) in Denmark for decades. Drawing upon interviews with multiple stakeholders: lecturers, representatives of an Education Research Institute, union activists an SAC provider and a policy maker, in Copenhagen, Denmark, this paper builds upon previous work to explore a paradigm shift in how SAC is organised, governed and supported in Copenhagen. Findings point to a repositioning of SAC within the educational landscape, where the traditional emphasis upon leisure and recreation is being overshadowed by academic achievement and accountability. There is evidence of tensions between teachers and pedagogues as they negotiate how to work together within SAC. Findings are salient to Ireland, where recent reports and initiatives see a renewed focus on SAC, as the State examines how best to support this emerging sector.
... Participation in extended education programs has been associated with improved academic achievement, and improved linguistic and social development of ELs (Hirsch, 2011). The body of research on the general benefits of learning through extended education, including afterschool and summer learning programs, is robust and encouraging. ...
... (Anderson-Butcher, 2010;Huang & Cho, 2009;Sanger, 2011). Programs in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York also staff programs from the same or similar neighborhoods who share students linguistic and cultural backgrounds, to help students cope with school stresses and develop the knowledge, attitudes, and skills to help young navigate the complexities of society (Hirsch, 2011;Farmer-Hinton, et al, 2009;Wong, 2010). One positive consequence of recruiting staff directly from the school's surrounding community is that the extended education staff members often develop long-term careers in education and fill critical administrative and instructional roles within the school. ...
Presentation
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One goal of full-day schools is the development of individual support (Stiftung Mercator; Holtappels, 2006) and the individualization of learning. One promising way of individualization is to enable students to control their own learning process by self-regulated learning. By using cognitive, metacognitive, and motivational learning strategies students monitor, control, and regulate their cognitive activities and behavior (Pintrich, 2000). Several meta-analyses have highlighted the importance of metacognitive strategies in learning (e.g., Dignath, Büttner, & Langfeldt, 2008). In a school intervention study we conducted a training of self-regulated learning in science to teach students to use metacognitive strategies to control and regulate their learning process. The training was carried out by researchers of university. Stebner et al. (2015) showed that this training of self-regulated learning is effective. This result leads to the need for implementation of the developed training at full-day schools. Accordingly, the following research question arises: How to implement the training in school? In a first evaluation, the training of self-regulated learning was carried out by teachers. 200 fifth and sixth grade students were taught self-regulated learning in their regular learning groups. As the data revealed, students who received the training outperformed the control group with regard to (metacognitive) strategy use, knowledge acquisition and application. These results led to a second evaluation run, in which teachers tried to foster self-regulated learning both, training and a simultaneous implementation of self-regulated learning in regular classroom. First results show that students are able to use metacognitive strategies of self-regulation in regular classroom either. All results indicate the effectiveness of the evaluated measures of fostering self-regulated learning at full-day schools. These measures can be considered as one way to help students individualize their learning.
... L'esperienza degli studenti accompagnati nel percorso di alternanza scuola-lavoro ha confermato quindi come l'alternanza possa rappresentare un'occasione di apprendimento e di riflessione sulle proprie capacità e competenze, sui propri talenti e sulle proprie aspirazioni e svolgere una funzione di orientamento professionale o alla scelta universitaria attraverso il riconoscimento di interessi e attitudini individuali. Sappiamo che la capacità di prendere decisioni riguardanti le scelte professionali è un fattore predittivo dello stesso successo professionale 30 , per questo motivo il percorso di alternanza scuola-lavoro può rappresentare un momento significativo della propria biografia professionale che va oltre l'occasione di apprendimento e di riflessione su capacità, competenze, talenti, aspirazioni e vocazioni professionali. Da questa prima fase di ricerca è emerso inoltre che l'esperienza di lavoro nel mondo delle imprese sul territorio permette l'approfondimento e l'estensione di competenze legate al lavoro, ma già sviluppate a scuola: in particolare va fatto riferimento allo sviluppo di competenze trasversali con riferimento alle competenze chiave per l'apprendimento permanente delle raccomandazioni del Parlamento europeo del 2006 e del 2018 31 e alle competenze chiave di cittadinanza italiane 32 . ...
... Research in the area is rare. Some findings from the USA indicate that participation in so called after-school programmes is associated with improved academic performance (Hirsch, 2011). Out of the Nordic countries, only Sweden and Denmark employ higher educated staff in childcare for school children (Dahl, 2014;Pálsdottir, 2012). ...
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In 2014, a newly formed group of teachers graduated from Swedish universities. In addition to their qualification as leisure-time pedagogues, their degree includes teaching practical/aesthetical subjects in compulsory school. This group of teachers thus has to relate to dual professional identities and to maintain a balance between the socially oriented leisure-time centres and a goal- and results-driven school. In this article we describe their first two years after graduation, trying to get hold of their negotiation of professional identities and orientation in the professional landscape. Results shows that the graduates try to balance own ideals and hybrid professional intentions against traditional professional identities and labour market conditions and that position in a liminal phase might be crucial for the outcome.
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After-school programs (ASP) are a long-standing activity historically facilitated by organizations such as the YMCA, Boys and Girls Club, social service/community centers and, in the past decade, an increasing number of municipal park districts. Staffing usually consist of recreation professionals, social and youth workers, and volunteers. In recent years, physical educators have joined the list of those sought to facilitate ASPs and are considered uniquely qualified, given the close relationship between physical education and recreation activities. In an effort to prepare physical educators for facilitating ASPs, formal presentations and discussions were conducted at the state level (2008) and again at the national level (2012) via the Illinois Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance and the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (now SHAPE America – Society of Health and Physical Educators), respectively. The purpose was to inform physical educators on how to create, implement and evaluate an ASP for their school. The purpose of this article is to provide physical educators with a strategy to design an ASP by identifying and discussing steps for creating sustainable programs.
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The purpose of our chapter is to highlight central issues and emerging areas of research conducted over the past three decades that has been concerned with adolescents ’ (ages 12 – 18) out-of-school activities and development. Elucidating those areas where research is especially rich or exemplary, where limited empirical knowledge exists, and where new knowledge is sorely needed are broad goals of the chapter. An additional goal is to consider how the developmental significance of participating in out - of - school activities may vary according to differences in individual characteristics, activity features, and the broader ecologies in which youth and activities are situated. Finally, we consider how the research can inform practical and policy decision making concerning out-of-school activities and youth development.
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A meta-analysis of after-school programs that seek to enhance the personal and social skills of children and adolescents indicated that, compared to controls, participants demonstrated significant increases in their self-perceptions and bonding to school, positive social behaviors, school grades and levels of academic achievement, and significant reductions in problem behaviors. The presence of four recommended practices associated with previously effective skill training (SAFE: sequenced, active, focused, and explicit) moderated several program outcomes. One important implication of current findings is that ASPs should contain components to foster the personal and social skills of youth because youth can benefit in multiple ways if these components are offered. The second implication is that further research is warranted on identifying program characteristics that can help us understand why some programs are more successful than others.
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This book examines six urban after-school centers, studied over a period of 4 years. Little has been written about the comprehensive after-school centers that are the subject of this book. Most academics have focused on a program or activity that corresponds to their scholarly interests. However, the need for good data and theory about comprehensive centers is pressing. Many in the policy world would like to see after-school programs focus exclusively on academics. Most of those who work in the after-school field beg to differ. Practitioners need more compelling data and theory to make their case. This book provides at least some of those scholarly supports. This book is written for all of those who are concerned with after-school programs, urban youth, or the social contexts of early adolescence--including the research community as well as those who are directly involved in the world of practice. Among researchers, the book will be of interest to both qualitative and quantitative researchers. The research involved a mixed method approach that used a variety of qualitative and quantitative procedures. Among those in the world of youth practice, the book will be useful to policymakers, administrators, and frontline youth workers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)