English Language Learners (ELLs), a diverse group of individuals from across the world who are learning English for the first time, make up the fastest growing segment of the student population in United States public schools. This issue brief displays how the extra time and hands-on learning experiences provided by quality afterschool programs can allow for a specialized, less-formal learning environment in which ELLs can develop language and social skills that otherwise could not be addressed through the less flexible schedule of the regular school day.
Afterschool programs have long partnered with other youth-serving and community organizations to better meet the needs of their students. As interest and momentum grows around STEM programming in afterschool , partnerships become increasingly important in offering high-quality, hands-on STEM experiences for youth. This issue brief demonstrates several models of how afterschool programs are partnering with STEM-rich institutions like science centers and museums, universities and colleges, business and industry, and government agencies. The brief highlights the strengths of each type of STEM
The number of jobs requiring proficiency in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields is projected to grow by 17 percent between 2008 and 2018, which is almost double the growth of non-STEM occupations. Computing and engineering represent a majority of these STEM jobs, and it is important that students are prepared to take advantage of these opportunities. Afterschool programs represent an avenue to provide robust learning experiences in computing and engineering, especially as schools are under many constraints and pressures that might prevent them from offering these topics
Based on the Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics' most recent report, 13 percent of public school students approximately 6.4 million students were identified as having a disability or other special need and served by a federally supported special education program. Research shows that, compared to students without disabilities, students with disabilities and other special needs face additional challenges as they move through school and into adulthood. However, inclusive learning environments where students of all abilities can take part in meaningful learning
In 2008 the Coalition for Science After School and Afterschool Alliance published an issue brief on STEM in out-of-school time, "Afterschool programs: At the STEM of Learning."
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Argumentation has become an increasingly recognized focus for science instruction---as a learning process, as an outcome associated with the appropriation of scientific discourse, and as a window onto the epistemic work of science. Only a small set of theoretical conceptualizations of argumentation have been deployed and investigated in science education, however, while a plethora of conceptualizations have been developed in the interdisciplinary fields associated with science studies and the learning sciences. This paper attempts to review a range of such theoretical conceptualizations of
This issue brief illustrates the power of strong, successful partnerships between afterschool programs and STEM-rich institutions. Additionally, the partnerships described offer promising and innovative models that can have a significant impact on both students and their instructors. Afterschool programs have a long and rich history of leveraging community resources to best meet the needs of the youth they serve. They recognize that STEM-rich institutions -- science centers and museums, universities and colleges, corporations and businesses, and government agencies -- have a lot to offer. All
The aim of the work reported here has been to give an overview of the support that the informal sector provides for learning and engagement with science. In addressing this goal, we have taken the view that engagement with science and the learning of science occur both within and without schools. What is of interest is not who provides the experience or where it is provided but the nature and diversity of opportunities for science learning and engagement that are offered in contemporary UK society. Thus in approaching the work we have taken a systems perspective and looked at informal
Researchers Jurow, Hall, and Ma examined how conversations and interactions between students and STEM professionals expanded students’ understanding of math modeling.
In this article Bell, Tzou, Bricker, and Baines describe how formal and informal educational experiences can merge through three case studies of youth engaged in science and technology. The theory of “cultural learning pathways” reframes our understanding of how, why, and where people learn over time and across spaces that have varying cultural values, everyday practices, and hierarchies of privilege and marginalization.
What is the relationship between experiences in informal settings and students’ understanding of and attitudes toward science? By analysing existing data sets, Suter finds that science museum attendance has an effect—albeit a small one—on student achievement.
The adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards means that many educators who adhere to model-based reasoning styles of science will have to adapt their programs and curricula. In addition, all practitioners will have to teach modeling, and model-based reasoning is a useful way to do so. This brief offers perspectives drawn from Lehrer and Schauble, two early theorists in model-based reasoning.