What motivates kids to take multiple programs at the Minnesota Zoo? What makes Minnesota Zoo programs so comfortable and engaging that some kids just keep coming back? How do these experiences support kids’ interest in animals and wildlife conservation? The Minnesota Zoo (MN Zoo) offers over a dozen educational programs for youth tailored to encourage exploration of “what makes the MN Zoo tick.” After 10 years of programming for hundreds of youth, a cluster of youth return again and again to learn more about animal care, wild wildlife conservation, zoo work, and volunteer opportunities
Researchers from the Center for Informal Learning and Schools (CILS), Learning in Informal and Formal Environments (LIFE) Center and two other centers recently published LOST Learning Opportunities: Learning about Out-of-School Time. The book, published by Springer, addresses conceptual, methodological, and empirical issues related to studying learning in everyday and afterschool settings. Primarily written for researchers, LOST Learning Opportunities includes chapters on what math looks like in everyday family settings, how science is positioned in afterschool, how children's learning and
Find out how afterschool and summer learning can support student success in the Expanding Minds and Opportunities compendium, released by The Expanded Learning & Afterschool Project. This collection of nearly 70 articles includes reports, studies, opinion commentaries, and examples of best practices makes the case that opportunities in out-of-school time learning can have positive impacts on youth development—including in STEM.
The Afterschool Alliance, a Washington, D.C. based advocacy group for out of school learning, has released a highly anticipated report on outcomes for youth in STEM after school programs. The report is the result of a 10-month study funded by the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation and the Noyce Foundation, of afterschool providers from around the country that were surveyed on “appropriate and feasible” outcomes for STEM learning in afterschool settings. The survey results were organized into a framework of outcomes, indicators, and sub-indicators that demonstrate how afterschool contributes to
Presentation on NSF grant DRL-1114481 (""Full-Scale Development: Science STARS-Nurturing Urban Girls' Identities Through Inquiry-Based Science"") presented at the CAISE Convening on Professional Development and Informal Science Education, February 2nd, 2012.
Presentation on NSF grant DRL-0813434 (Girls Energy Conservation Corps) presented at the CAISE Convening on Sustainability Science and Informal Science Education, February 6th, 2012.
Presentation on NSF grant DRL-0917536 (""Studying and Improving Networks for Disseminating STEM Educational Materials in After-School Programs"") presented at the CAISE Convening on Organizational Networks, November 17th, 2011.
In this article, the author describes the process and result of a statewide effort in New York to develop an afterschool quality framework and assessment tool that can be used to guide program design, reflection, and assessment. One benefit of the tool is that it can be used by program stakeholders without the participation (i.e., the expense) of an external observer. This article might be of interest to ISE educators seeking to adopt existing program evaluation tools that do not require the participation of external evaluators.
The authors of this paper conducted an evaluation of two pilot credential programs both starting in Massachusetts in 2007, the School-Age Youth Development Credential (SAYD) and the Professional Youth Worker Credential (PYWC). Their reflections on the need for professional development for out-of-school time (OST) staff and youth workers show that the field of youth development at present is at crossroads. Based on the evaluation of these two pilot programs, the researchers advocate the establishment of a nationally recognized credential to professionalize the youth development field. The need
This study is a summary of the review of the research literature of afterschool quality frameworks. It presents the debates on program effectiveness to help organizations, policymakers, funders, and evaluators make decisions about afterschool programming. This review is of help to ISE educators and program directors in understanding the current trends in outcomes-based programming, while grounding the conversation in the complexity and range of relevant developmental tasks.