scholarly journals Overview of Current After School - OST STEM Programs for Girls

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-92
Author(s):  
Zeynep Gecu-Parmaksiz ◽  
Janette Hughes ◽  
Tess Butler-Ulrich
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
After School ◽  
Out Of School Time ◽  
Stem Programs ◽  
School Time ◽  
Stem Pipeline ◽  
Underrepresentation Of Women ◽  
Social And Cultural Factors ◽  
Out Of School

Historically, there has been a gender gap within the STEM pipeline, resulting in the underrepresentation of women in STEM fields. Current efforts, both within and outside of educational institutions, have been developed to target girls’ specific needs with the aim of supporting girls' interest and engagement in STEM. The following paper examines the social and cultural factors that perpetuate the gender gap in STEM. It also provides a review and critique of six existing Canadian Out of School Time (OST) STEM programs and the principles used in their development and implementation. Conclusions from this review suggest that OST programs, when developed using best practices, may play a crucial role in encouraging girls to pursue a STEM career. Four primary best practices include: social and collaborative learning, topics related to girls' interests, development of STEM identity, and length of the program (for example, programs done over a longer period of time are generally more effective than programs completed over a shorter duration). Although the COVID-19 pandemic has caused some of these programs to migrate online, these four promising practices transcend face-to-face versus online boundaries. As a result, programs should continue to follow these pedagogical approaches to foster girls' interests in STEM. Keywords: gender inequality, out of school time programs, social learning, STEM education, STEM programming

scholarly journals Testing the Retrospective Pretest with High School Youth in Out-of-School Time Programs

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 216-229
Author(s):  
Jill Young ◽  
Leanne Kallemeyn
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Response Shift ◽  
After School ◽  
Out Of School Time ◽  
School Time ◽  
Retrospective Pretest ◽  
Youth Interviews ◽  
Response Shift Bias ◽  
School Youth ◽  
Out Of School

Practitioners and evaluators face several constraints in conducting rigorous evaluations to determine program effect. Researchers have offered the retrospective pretest/posttest design as a remedy to curb response-shift bias and better estimate program effects. This article presents an example of how After School Matters (ASM) tested the use of retrospective pretest/posttest design for evaluating out-of-school time (OST) programs for high school youth participants. Differences between traditional pretest and retrospective pretest scores were statistically significant, but effect sizes were negligible, indicating that both pretests yielded similar results. Interviews with youth led to 3 key findings that have implications for ASM using retrospective pretests with youth: response-shift bias was more prominent in youth interviews than in quantitative findings, youth recommended reordering the questions so that the retrospective pretest appears first to increase comprehension, and acquiescence bias emerged in the interviews. This study demonstrates that the retrospective pretest/posttest design can be an alternative to the traditional pretest/posttest design for OST at ASM. These findings are important for ASM and other youth-serving organizations, which often have limited capacity to survey youth multiple times within 1 program session.

Out-of-School-Time Programs: A Meta-Analysis of Effects for At-Risk Students

2006 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 275-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia A. Lauer ◽  
Motoko Akiba ◽  
Stephanie B. Wilkerson ◽  
Helen S. Apthorp ◽  
David Snow ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
At Risk Students ◽  
After School ◽  
Out Of School Time ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
School Time ◽  
Summer Schools ◽  
Meta Analyses ◽  
Out Of School

Schools and districts are adopting out-of-school-time (OST) programs such as after-school programs and summer schools to supplement the education of low-achieving students. However, research has painted a mixed picture of their effectiveness. To clarify OST impacts, this synthesis examined research on OST programs for assisting at-risk students in reading and/or mathematics. Researchers analyzed 35 OST studies that employed control or comparison groups and met other inclusion criteria. Meta-analyses indicated small but statistically significant positive effects of OST on both reading and mathematics student achievement and larger positive effect sizes for programs with specific characteristics such as tutoring in reading. Whether the OST program took place after school or during the summer did not make a difference in effectiveness.

scholarly journals Out-of-school time STEM program: Students’ attitudes toward and career interests in mathematics and science

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 356
Author(s):  
Guan Saw ◽  
Brendan Swagerty ◽  
Shon Brewington ◽  
Chi-Ning Chang ◽  
Ryan Culbertson
Keyword(s):  
Motivational Factors ◽  
Career Interests ◽  
School Students ◽  
Out Of School Time ◽  
Stem Programs ◽  
School Time ◽  
Math And Science ◽  
Students Attitudes ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Out Of School

<span>Internationally, out-of-school time (OST) science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs abound. However, rigorous evidence of their impacts on student outcomes is scarce. This study evaluated the relationships between OST STEM program participation and student motivational factors in math and science by analyzing survey and administrative data of 1.017 middle school students who participated in the seven-week, STEM-focused Prefreshman Engineering Program (PREP) in San Antonio, Texas, from 2015 to 2017. Multiple regression results indicated that the PREP participation was positively associated with students’ attitudes toward math and interests in math-related careers, whereas the effects on students’ attitudes toward science and career interests in science were negligible. No evidence was found to suggest that the associations between PREP participation and student motivational factors in math and science differed by gender, race/ethnicity, or socioeconomic status.</span>

The Effects of Prompts and a Group-Oriented Contingency on Out-of-School Physical Activity in Elementary School-Aged Students

2012 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Hastie ◽  
Hans van der Mars ◽  
Todd Layne ◽  
Danielle Wadsworth
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Free Play ◽  
After School ◽  
Physically Active ◽  
Out Of School Time ◽  
School Time ◽  
Bonus Points ◽  
Verbal Prompts ◽  
Out Of School ◽  
Teacher Prompts

This study examined the effectiveness of three conditions in which 48 fourth-grade students were prompted to be physically active out of school. Using an alternating treatments design (Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 2007) the three intervention conditions included: (a) Baseline: No prompting of students, (b) Teacher Prompts: Verbal prompt to “remember to do something active after school today”, and (c) Teacher Prompts and group-oriented contingencies: Verbal prompts with an index card where students could record their activity to earn bonus points as part of a team challenge. Graphically plotted pedometer data depicting data paths, variability, and trends within and across three conditions showed that students were more active outside of school only when the contingent reinforcement (c) was in place. This suggests that using prompts and group-oriented contingencies within Sport Education appears to be an effective and authentic context for promoting independent (i.e., free play) out-of-school time physical activity.

scholarly journals BEST PRACTICES IN USING EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY BY OUT-OF-SCHOOL TIME LEARNERS

2020 ◽  
pp. 283-291
Author(s):  
Dr. Thadei A. Kiwango
Keyword(s):  
Educational Technology ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
School Administrators ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Educational Stakeholders ◽  
Out Of School Time ◽  
School Time ◽  
The Media ◽  
Teachers And Parents ◽  
Out Of School

This paper identifies the best practices in the use of educational technology during out-of-school time learning. The study was conducted in Arusha, Dar es Salaam and Mwanza regions in Tanzania. A preliminary study was first carried out to establish actual practices in the use of educational technology among learners. Learners were asked to state the actual practices that they apply in using the educational technology. The most frequent perceived best practices were used as a benchmark in constructing a questionnaire which was later administered to the respondents from the research regions for them to rank the perceived best practices. The findings suggest that effective use of educational technology demands users jot down key ideas, pay due attention to the media, identify problem areas, and keep records of essential programmes for future reference. Additionally, learners have to adhere to the schedules, and avoid unintended programmes especially those forbidden by adults. These findings call for the joint efforts among educational stakeholders especially school administrators, teachers and parents to ensure that learners in both public and private schools actually embrace the best practices in the course of using Information Communication Technology (ICT) with a view to creating enabling OST learning environment among learners and ultimately improve academic performance. Furthermore, studies need to be done to find the best ways the findings of this study could apply to other countries and higher levels of education.

scholarly journals Video Review: History of Afterschool in America

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 285-290
Author(s):  
M. Maureen Toomey
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
After School ◽  
Key Words And Phrases ◽  
School Professionals ◽  
Out Of School Time ◽  
School Time ◽  
History Of ◽  
Learning Guide ◽  
Out Of School

After-school and out-of-school time programs are common across the United States and are seen as providing safe and nurturing environments for children, youth, and teens. The History of Afterschool in America documentary succinctly lays out the evolution of after-school and out-of-school time programming. The 60-minute documentary is framed in 12 chapters with narrative from historians, key advocates and leaders, practitioners, and teens. An accompanying learning guide provides discussion questions, key words and phrases, and additional resources. It is a must watch for after-school professionals, youth-serving organizations, and collaborators.

scholarly journals School Age Programs and Services Committee: Out of School Time: Inspiring Engagement in Children’s Programming

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Kimberly Grad
Keyword(s):  
School Age Children ◽  
After School ◽  
School Age ◽  
Summer Reading ◽  
Out Of School Time ◽  
School Time ◽  
Children's Librarians ◽  
Home And School ◽  
Radical Shift ◽  
Out Of School

Programming for school age children has experienced a radical shift in the last year due to the pandemic. Out-of-school time or “after school” has taken on a different tone as some children learn at home and some are back at school.And yet, with virtual programming libraries continue to provide a bridge between home and school. Children’s librarians are digging deeper into the well of programming ideas to provide engaging library related activities. In our first column, we offer some concrete program ideas that can be utilized throughout the year when school is in session or during summer reading programming.

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