The purpose of this research was to study the ways in which a content driven after-school art program focused on community-based art projects inspires high school students to create work that are personal and purposeful. This study involved members of the Hempstead High School Art Club. I collected data in various ways including focus groups video recording, journal reflections, and observations with Art club members who meet monthly to discuss the project and biweekly to work on the project. My plan was to gather information on the effectiveness of a content driven after school art club in the teaching and learning of visual art. Through my research I hoped to discover the benefits and drawbacks of an after school art program as compared to a regular art classroom setting and the implementation of content driven art projects. Finally, I hoped to study and analyze the effects such a program would have on a student's understanding of the purpose of creating community-based art.

As the number of at-risk students' increases, challenges for teachers, administrators and policymakers increase too, including the need to develop productive programs to help reduce some of the negative outcomes to which at-risk youth are already predisposed. Mentoring programs offer opportunities for at-risk youth to socialize and learn in a safe environment that exposes them to other members of the community. This study explores some of the components that constitute "effective mentoring", with regards to mentoring programs for at-risk youth. It compares two mentoring organizations, Strong Women Strong Girls and The DREAM Program using several of the benchmark criteria for effective mentoring programs set forth by the National Mentoring Partnership. It concludes with recommendations and suggested next steps on the federal, state and local levels toward enhancing current mentoring programs. The findings include, that Strong Women Strong Girls and The DREAM Program meet the majority of the established benchmark criteria. / McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts; / Graduate Center for Social and Public Policy / MA; / Thesis;

Who is integrating school-holiday home? It is for the teachers, recreational pedagogue or the students? How do the students think and act to keep the different activities apart? My purpose was to study how children sort the day between school and recreational home interactions. The issues were: How do they distinguish between the different activities during the day?  See the students their stay after school program as part of the school day? Who decides whether you have to go to school, and whether you have to go to after school program? And do you really have to? I have interviewed six students at an elementary school, based from a phenomenographic perspective, I've used myself of issues that students have been able to respond from a school perspective and after-school perspective. My interview questions have been comparative in nature, where the same question have given different answers depending on whether the question focused on school or the afterschool program. Do you have to go to school/afterschool program? When are you at school/afterschool program? How do you know that you are in school or afterschool program? I have analyzed the interviews, from a child's perspective.  My results show that children can make a difference when they are at school and when they are in the afterschool program. The majority of the six students who I interviewed divide their day between work and play. They related work during the lessons and play to the afterschool program. Some of the interviewed students also made a distinction between the offices, subjects, friends and staff categories. I can also see a tendency for differences in the response that can be related to how old they are, and in what grade they are in.

Previous research suggests that parents can benefit from youth participation in after-school programs. However, little research has explored parent involvement in after-school programs as an important program characteristic leading to youth development. Bioecological Systems Theory suggests that individuals are influenced by the interactions of others within their environment. Building from this theory, it was posited that parent benefits resulting from involvement in after-school programs can facilitate positive youth development. Surveys were completed by 117 parents whose daughters participated in the Cool Girls, Inc. after-school program, a program serving primarily low-income, African American, urban youth. Using Exploratory Factor Analysis, a three factor structure of parent benefits was identified. Parent benefits include increased (1) parent-child communication, (2) parent social capital, and (3) parent-school involvement. A fourth parent benefit of help for working parents was identified in subsequent analyses using a smaller sample of only working parents (n = 86). Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that more parent after-school program involvement was associated with increases in each of the four parent benefits. As predicted, each of the four parent benefits mediated the association between parent involvement in after-school programs and parent reported changes in positive youth development outcomes due to participation in Cool Girls, Inc. These results suggest the importance of further research into ways parents benefit from their child’s participation in after-school programs and how those benefits can influence youth developmental trajectories. These findings also demonstrate the importance of involving parents in after-school programs.

The purpose of my study was to find out how staff in after-school activities thinks they work with norms and values, we may call this values education, and how this in turn may influence children's norms and values. By extension, how children are socialized with each other and develop socially. In my research, I have interviewed five of the after-school activities staff who work with children aged 6-9 years at a school in the neighbourhood Rinkeby-Kista in northwestern Stockholm.The results show that after-school activity according to the staff can play a very important and sometimes crucial role in children's social development. Staff believes that if they do not learn the social rules by participating in playing and games in early childhood, when growing up they are outside and cannot participate. By their pedagogical approaches, in terms of values and norms, the adults in after-school activities can help children to become socialized into a community of solidarity and eventually as adults become responsible citizens able to function and participate in society.

The subjects of this study are 575 teachers of After School Alternative Program in Tainan City. By doing survey, it aims at investigating those teachers¡¦ perspective of the causes of the underprivileged students¡¦ low achievement, the remedial teaching method and the outcomes of remedial teaching. The results will offer suggestions for the future study and the remedial teaching teachers¡¦ training held by the education administrative organization. According to the outcome of the study, the conclusions are as followings. 1.Most of the After School Alternative Program teachers attribute the causes of the underprivileged students¡¦ low achievement to students¡¦ personal factor. 2.The After School Alternative Program teachers agree with the remedial teaching method and consider ¡¥teaching strategy¡¦ as the most important. 3.Most of the After School Alternative Program teachers agree with the effect of the remedial teaching and think that ¡¥teaching development¡¦ affects the outcomes the most. 4.The teachers with different experiences, different education backgrounds and from different school scales have different opinions of the causes of the underprivileged students¡¦ low achievement, the remedial teaching method and the outcomes of remedial teaching. 5.The After School Alternative Program teachers think that the remedial teaching method positively affects its outcomes.

The activities attended by elementary students are surely not just the classroom lessons only. It includes the participations in classroom and school wide student organizations, in academic and sport competitions sponsored by schools, regions, and states, in self-study and school plays and other performance organized by schools, as well as the participations in after school activities , such as cram schools, dance schools, music and instrument lessons, sport trainings, homework, housework, and leisure activities. It is believed that student participation is somewhat related to their family socio-economic status and to some extent shaping their personality in respect to their self-esteem, autonomy, attitudes towards school, and educational aspiration. This study was designed to examine the interrelationships between student participation, the socioeconomic status of their family , and their personality development . Our data were collected from the survey administered to the fifth graders and the sixth graders in class randomly and systematically selected from two metropolitan elementary schools with a salient descent background in farming and labor in Kaohsiung City and Fonsan City. It was found that both participations in school activities and after school activities favor students more for students from upper socioeconomic status family than for those from lower socioeconomic status family, except sport competitions, homework, and housework. On the other hand, the participation in school activities appears to bear more impact upon self-esteem, autonomy, attitude, and aspiration than does the participation in after school activities. Nevertheless, neither the participation in school activities nor the participation in after school activities can completely explain away the relationship between socioeconomic status and the personality variables. The personality variables of self-esteem, autonomy, attitudes, and aspiration are a reflection in social opportunity structure, particularly, for those at the elementary schools, and also attuned to the earlier findings in the study in social inequality. This study provides information worthwhile for those in academic and education who are concerned with the welfare and the equal opportunity for the poor.

The purpose of the study is to investigate the level of loneliness and social dissatisfaction among third, fourth and fifth grade elementary school students considering three variables: maternal work status, after school care arrangement type, and after school activities. The sample of the study consisted of 732 (third, fourth and fifth grade) elementary school students in three public elementary schools in Ankara. In the present study Loneliness and Social Dissatisfaction Scale (Asher &amp / Wheeler, 1985) and the information form was used. The information form included questions about gender, age, sibling status, after school care arrangement, maternal work status, people/ place they spend their after school time, and activity types done after school. The results of analysis of variance showed that there is no significant difference in loneliness and social dissatisfaction level of students depending on their after school care arrangement types as relative care, non relative care, sibling/self care, and center care. Moreover, no significant difference was found among loneliness and social dissatisfaction level of students who have working mothers and stay-at-home mothers. Additionally, analysis of the activity types students are involved after school, namely, active, passive and adult supervised/preprogrammed activities, revealed no significant difference in terms of loneliness and social dissatisfaction level. Independent from the analysis done, gender or age differences of students were examined considering their loneliness and social dissatisfaction level. However, no differences were found among the groups.

To understand School Educators¡¦ attitude toward the Implementation of ¡§The Study of After School Remedial Program¡¨ in Tainan is main purpose of this study. The potential problems and improvement suggestions have been discussed in the study in hopes of providing the local education administration authorities, schools, and educators¡¦ valuable consultation. The research applies questionnaire investigation as the major research method. The survey on its existing problems and suggestive solutions is developed by the researcher. Questionnaires are distributed to school administration educators in 30 Tainan municipal junior high schools and elementary schools. 621 copies of questionnaires were distributed, 518 copies were collected, 506 copies are valid finally. Data is statistically analyzed for frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation in order to interpret demographics of survey respondents. According to the research outcomes, the major conclusions as followings: 1. The overall performance of remedial instruction classes fostered by the program in Tainan is acceptable¡C 2. School educators in general have positive point of views toward the solutions of remedial instruction classes fostered by the program. 3. They who never execute on remedial instructions feel the existing problems are serious than those who ever execute the program. 4. Aggressiveness at elementary schools is higher than it at municipal junior high in which existing more serious problems. Besides, small scale schools own higher aggressiveness with fewer problems than it at mid & large scale schools. 5. Among educators with various backgrounds at different school districts exist various thoughts on solution of the program. 6. Five factors on remedial instructions¡Glow enthusiasm of teachers¡Black of actual individual difference class grouping¡Blimitation of progress on higher grades¡Blimited class hours and short of craft and activity courses etc., must be faced and solved. 7. The most acceptable ways of solution on remedial instructions are acceptable earning¡Bmore teachers¡Bindividual difference class grouping¡Bresearch and develop teaching materials for remedial instructions and creating systematic diagnosis evaluation tools etc. According above discussions, this study made the following suggestions on future policy creating: 1. The education authorities should envisage educators¡¦ needs, offer solution and praise plans. Administration operation needs to focus on different school districts and various class grades by offering multi-methods promotion strategies. They should create systematic remedial instructions functions for receiving higher efficiency, and take elementary schools as the key target to implement remedial instructions. 2. The schools should reduce educators¡¦ difference on realization of the program by communication reinforcement, organize individual difference class grouping significantly to implement remedial instructions effectively; and promote students¡¦ learning desire by adding art, craft and activities courses. 3. The teachers should possess strategies and knowledge for remedial instructions to create teachers¡¦ professional image and behavior.

Since the year of 2000, some of the country and city governments had already established regulations or sent out official documents to encourage the schools under them to implement ¡§Primary School After-School-Care Service¡¨. 2003, it is officially classified into Children and Youth Welfare Act as a part of the law, and established ¡§After-School-Care services for Primary schools and staff qualification standards¡¨ to propose to the whole country. Its goal is to encourage women to give birth and to enable the parents to work without burdens, especially for those families who are receiving double-income, so that their children can grow up healthy. Also, schools which are located in the mountains, remote areas, or islanders, aborigines have the privilege to establish first, and the care service have to match the work hours of the parents. This research is taking Zuo-Zheng, Tainan as sample, and is researching on the conditions of remote primary schools¡¦ After-School-Care Service. We interviewed the principals of the primary schools, the head of administrative organizations and unofficial groups, and also did survey on the parents. We used descriptive statistics to analyze, and make discusses on if it is correspondent with the needs and goals, if gaps are found during the execution of the policy, and related advices are made for references. The conclusion of the founding are listed below: 1. After-School-Cares at remote areas cannot meet the needs. 2. After-School-Cares at remote areas are facing difficulties. 3. After-School-Cares at remote areas did not practice well. 4. The idea of After-School-Care is lack of cognition. 5. The policy of After-School-Care is complex and lack of continuity. At last according to the founding, we came up with advices for government organization of education: 1. Establish supplementary measures according to different regions. 2. Enhance the propaganda of the policy to enable the establishment of common views.