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Archive for the ‘Resources’ Category

NASA Afterschool Universe – Tucson Training

Posted in Activities, Professional Development and Training, Resources on May 15, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Afterschool Universe is a hands-on out-of-school-time astronomy program for middle school children. This program is now available to out-of-school-time program providers who are looking to include engaging and high-quality science programming in their organization’s portfolio. The Program Overview page describes the basic structure of the program and includes an outline of all the sessions.

We offer Afterschool Universe training workshops throughout the year, in locations around the United States. After training, we provide leaders with resources to run the program in their communities — including a manual, downloadable files, worksheets and evaluation forms, posters, and a mini kit with some of the program’s materials that are only available from specialized suppliers. We will also provide a NASA certificate of completion for those who participate in our training.

  • Upcoming Training Workshops:
    Just Announced!  

    • May 27-28, 2009 in Tucson, Arizona
    • June 3-4, 2009 in Greenbelt, MD at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

    <!–Please contact us if you are want to register for either of these workshops. Let us know which organization you will be representing and which of the two workshops you are registering for. –>Register for Training Workshop.

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New Searchable Website of Assessment Tools for Informal Science Learning

Posted in Research, Resources on May 15, 2009| Leave a Comment »

PEAR (Program in Education, Afterschool and Resiliency), Belmont, MA

A new resource designed to help practitioners, evaluators, researchers and policymakers select instruments to assess science learning and child outcomes in out-of-school programs is now available.  PEAR, a Harvard University-McLean Hospital team led by Dr. Gil Noam, has developed a searchable database of assessment tools for evaluating program quality and outcomes.

Afterschool programs are gaining recognition as settings that hold great potential for increasing scientific literacy and engagement in youth.  Yet some questions remain:  How do we know when afterschool programs achieve their goals?  What evaluative tools should we use when assessing afterschool science programs?  How can we be sure the evaluative tools we use are valid and reliable — are they appropriately measuring science programming and outcomes?
 
Evaluating afterschool science programming is essential for ensuring and improving the quality of informal science experiences for youth.  Sites that assess science programming are also better positioned to gain additional resources and are more attractive to funders and potential partners.  The Noyce Foundation, a leading strategic funder in the afterschool science field, requisitioned a yearlong study on the current state and needs of the informal science assessment world. The design for the PEAR study is based on an evaluative framework developed in a recent National Science Foundation report by Alan J. Friedman, David A. Ucko and committee. The PEAR study yielded an in-depth, analytical review of existing evaluation tools.  Results are documented in a report “Toward a Systemic Evidence-Base for Science in Out-of-School Time: The Role of Assessment.”  The new, searchable ATIS website makes information about these assessment tools easily accessible.
 
Come explore the website at atis.pearweb.org.  Read reviews and ratings by practitioners who are using these tools.  You are also invited to write reviews on instruments that you are using.  The site will be continuously updated in collaboration with youth development researchers at 4-H.
 
For further information about this website, please contact us or visit pearweb.org.

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Connecting with Comets Field Study

Posted in Activities, Resources on May 11, 2009| Leave a Comment »

http://epoxi.umd.edu/5education/index.shtml

Classroom teachers and afterschool educators, are you interested in testing the “Comet on a Stick” classroom activity? The Education and Public Outreach team for NASA’s EPOXI mission http://epoxi.umd.edu/
offers a standards-driven activity designed to meet the needs of all students, including disadvantaged and under-served.

To learn more and sign up for the spring field study:
Contact Dr. Stephanie B. Wilkerson
EPOXI E/PO Principal Evaluator, Magnolia Consulting, LLC; 434.984.5540;
stephanie@magnoliaconsulting.org.

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New Resources From the Harvard Family Research Project “Out of School Time Update”

Posted in Resources on May 11, 2009| Leave a Comment »

We’ve added 45 new entries and updated 40 others in our bibliography of out-of-school time program evaluations and research studies.

These new studies focus not only on traditional after school programs, but also on programs that include summer, before school, Saturday, and school-day components. Running the gamut from academic programs to youth leadership efforts, the programs evaluated in these entries serve youth in locations across the country.

Visit our Out-of-School Time Bibliography to access descriptions, citations, and links to evaluations and research studies for these and nearly 500 more out-of-school time programs.

Access the Out-of-School Time Bibliography:

http://www.hfrp.org/out-of-school-time/ost-database-bibliography/bibliography

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Infusing Creativity Into Your Mentoring Program

Posted in Resources on May 1, 2009| Leave a Comment »

The LEARNS partners are pleased to announce the availability of a new
recorded webinar “Infusing Creativity Into Your Mentoring Program”

produced by our colleagues at the Mentoring Resource Center.

Description: Youth mentoring programs are always looking for new and meaningful activities that can help mentors and mentees get to know each other and develop positive relationships. This webinar provides
background information about why and how making art together can enhance the connection between mentors and mentees. Our presenter, Sarah Kremer, draws on her experience and training in art therapy and shares examples of easy-to-implement projects. The seminar also provides advice and practical tips to help you develop creative arts activities in your own program.

Access the recorded webinar, slides, and associated handout at:
http://www.edmentoring.org/seminar10.html

Web: http://nationalserviceresources.org/learns/learns

LEARNS is a partnership of the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory and the Bank Street College of Education. We are funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service to provide training and
technical assistance to projects focused on tutoring, mentoring, literacy, and out-of-school time.

For additional tools, training, and information visit The Resource Center at www.nationalservice.gov/resources

The Mentoring Resource Center (MRC) is a collaborative effort between EMT Associates and the National Mentoring Center to provide training and technical assistance to the United States Department of Education
Mentoring Program grantees.

For additional information about the MRC visit
http://www.edmentoring.org/index.html

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Great Science for Girls Webinar can now be viewed and heard

Posted in Resources on May 1, 2009| Leave a Comment »

The Educational Equity Center (EEC) and Center for Youth Development and Policy Research (CYDPR) at AED hosted a Science, Gender and Afterschool webcast. Great Sceince for Girls highlights four unique curricula that have proven to impact girls’ interest and engagement in science learning. Over 100 national and international visitors participated in this session.

Included are resources and strategies that work. Presented by Dale McCreedy from the Franklin Institute Science Museum for Girls at the Center, Lisa Regalla for SciGirls, Linda Kekelis for Techbridge, and Maryann Stimmer from the Educational Equity Center at AED for After-School Science PLUS.

http://www.afterschool.org/    (Click on the Webcasts button)  andhttp://www.edequity.org/gsg/about/webcasts

The AED Educational Equity Center’s Great Science for Girls website:

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New Partnership = Downloadable After-school Materials from the National Institutes of Health

Posted in Resources on April 27, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Huge strides in the National Institutes of Health*s We Can! movement over the past year mean more resources for your after-school programming.  As you may know, We Can! offers science-based after- and in-school curricula to help teachers, parents, kids and others increase physical activity, improve nutrition and reduce screen time to improve health. 

Exciting materials and resources that you can use include:

* Free, downloadable We Can! materials about eating right, being active and pushing away the screen adapted by Scholastic Inc., in partnership with SUBWAY Ò Restaurants, to be even more classroom-friendly-See the attached PDF for details.  A limited number of free copies of these materials are also available.  Contact nhlbiinfo@nhlbi.nih.gov for more information.

* Spanish-language materials and strategies to help Hispanic communities help their kids maintain a healthy weight.  Check them out today at
 http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/wecan/whats-we-can/resources_espanol.htm

* More than 1,000 registered We Can! community sites (in 12 countries) that can offer you tips on tailoring the curricula to meet your particular needs/goals
For free, Scholastic materials see the attached flyer.  While you*ve got your Mouse clicking, make sure to enter Scholastic*s Make It Happen! Contest for a chance to win $5,000 in athletic equipment for your school.

Find out more at http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3751600.

To access other, kid-friendly, science-based resources; and a growing network of communities with firsthand knowledge; sign up to become a We Can! Community Site. For more information on We Can! visit us at http://wecan.nhlbi.nih.gov. 

To sign up to become a community site visit http://hp2010.nhlbihin.net/wecan/index.asp.

We Can! makes a difference!

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NGA and CCSSO Offer New Approaches to Strengthen Afterschool Opportunities for Students

Posted in Research, Resources on April 21, 2009| Leave a Comment »

A new report by the National Governors Association (NGA) Center and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) highlights the positive impact high-quality Extended Learning Opportunities ELOs have on student success and offers state leaders a blueprint to ensure ELO effectiveness.

For more, see the press release or download the report. For the moment, it’s also available as the first story on the NGA homepage.

via National Governors Association.

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