Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (January 19, 2010) Includes bibliographical references (p. 59-60)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2009. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2008. / Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 201-210).

Thesis (M.S.)--Miami University, Dept. of Family Studies and Social Work, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 20-22).

Thesis (Ed. S.)--Miami University, Dept. of Educational Psychology, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF document. Document formatted into pages; contains [1], iv, 43 p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 31-37).

In the after school program, educators meets students with different disabilities with special needs. The role that the educators are given is to ensure that all students are being seen for who they are and that they receives the support that they need in their daily activities. This study aims at investigating what experiences educators have of working with children with these kind of disabilities and special needs in the after school program. The study was conducted through surveys that were given to educators at six different schools. The results shows that the educators' experiences of working with neccesary adjustments for children with disabilities based on the requirements, skills and financial conditions of the management documents may look different. However, the result is that additional adjustments are important and are performed daily.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Bradley Burenheide / This study addressed an existing gap in research on after-school programs, a lack of qualitative research. It consisted of a case study, conducted through a phenomenological theoretical framework, aimed to explore the experiences of four youth enrolled in a privately-funded, faith-based after-school program in an urban Midwest community. Unlike most after-school programs, the program studied provides services to youth that run continuously from sixth grade through high school graduation. Research was conducted primarily through observation at both the youth’s public school affiliated with the program and at program events outside of school, as well as both group and individual interviews. The Hirsch, Deutsch, & DuBois (2011) conceptual framework of the role of comprehensive after-school programs on youth, the Rhodes (2005) Model of Youth Mentoring, and the philosophy of positive youth development were key to this study.

x, 137 p. : ill. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / This study explores the out-of-school time (OST) arts field through a critical race theory (CRT) lens. For the purpose of this research, OST arts programs include afterschool and summer learning programs focusing on visual arts, music, theater, dance, video production, and spoken word in Chicago, Illinois for youth ages 14-21. Four main tenets of CRT guide the main research question: How are OST arts programs time addressing racism, propagating social, historical, and liberal ideologies, promoting social justice, and giving voice to people of color? By conducting eight interviews with arts professionals as well as a comprehensive literature review and document analysis, themes of race, colorblindness, social justice, and identity development in OST youth arts programs are synthesized to reflect current practices in the field. This research suggests that current methods of critical pedagogy utilized in OST arts programs could promote successful education strategies for both in-school and out-of-school education for youth. / Committee in Charge: Dr. Lori Hager, Chair; Dr. John B. Fenn III; Dr. Jennifer Katz-Buonincontro

The ongoing advancement of science and technology is creating an increasing need for more entrants into science oriented careers. However, numerous studies have fueled growing concerns regarding the poor achievement of learners in science. Over the years, science education researchers have emphasized the importance of the affective domain of learning as a central component of strategies used to address learners’ lack of interest and poor achievement in science. In the literature, the affective domain is characterized by constructs such as disposition, attitude, interest, and motivation. Studies showing a correlation between the affective domain and academic achievement suggest that nurturing a positive disposition towards science is an antecedent to learners’ improved science achievement and entering science fields. This study focuses on the ‘disposition’ aspect of the affective domain, and follows in the path of earlier studies which use the term interchangeably with ‘attitude’. Learners’ experiences in a particular science education environment influence the development of a positive or negative disposition towards science. However, there is a need to explore the factors in the learning environments which influence learners’ disposition towards science. Previous studies have shown that the informal science environment may influence learners’ disposition towards science. One example of an informal science environment is the Khanya Maths and Science Club, which is an after-school science and mathematics enrichment programme in Grahamstown, South Africa. This study explores the influence of learners’ participation in an informal science education environment on their dispositions towards science, using the case of the Khanya Maths and Science Club. This study views disposition through the constructivist-developmental lens. The community of practice elements from situated learning theory is drawn on to explore how learners’ disposition can be influenced by their interactions in the context of the Khanya Maths and Science Club. The pragmatic paradigm is adopted, which considers how well the research tools work to provide answers to the research questions. This thus, provides an avenue for exploring how learners’ disposition towards science is influenced and what factors influenced their shift in disposition through their participation in the club. A mixed-methods approach is employed when focusing on the affective domain sub-constructs of: enjoyment of science, interest in science and perception of science. These are sub-scales in the test of science related attitude (TOSRA) questionnaire which was adapted for use in measuring learners’ attitude before and after 16 weeks of participating in the science club. The particular mixed-methods approach selected can be summarized as quan QUAL since the method is primarily qualitative, but sequential with the quantitative phase preceding the qualitative phase. The TOSRA questionnaire was used as the quantitative data collection instrument while semi-structured interviews and learners’ journal entries were the qualitative data collection instruments. The results revealed significant shifts in learners’ perception of, interest in science and enjoyment of science though interest in science and enjoyment of science shifted appreciably in a positive direction more than the perception of science. It was also found that learners’ attitude towards science was influenced by; instructional characteristics, facilitators/environmental characteristics, learners making connection between science and everyday life and learners’ perceived difficulty of science. These factors variably influenced their attitude towards science in the club, corroborating what had been found in similar studies. This study corroborates what the literature offers for achieving effective outcomes in Afterschool science enrichment programmes. It contributes to the growing body of literature on features for quality outcomes in Afterschool science enrichment programmes. This study also makes a theoretical contribution to science education research particularly with regard to how the emergence of a community of practice framework in the club activities provide useful information for planning club activities and the analysis of learners’ evolving disposition towards science. Key words: Khanya Maths and Science Club, disposition, attitude, after-school enrichment programmes, constructivist-developmental approach, situated learning theory, community of practice, Test of Science Related Attitude (TOSRA).

The purpose of this study employing meta-analysis was to assess the impact that after-school programs have on reading and mathematics outcomes. The participants in the primary studies were students in Grades K through 8; years 200 through 2009. The study utilized the theory of change as its theoretical basis. This meta-analysis used the effect size as the standard measure. It began with an overall Cohen's d of .40 for the impact that after-school programs have on reading and mathematics outcomes, and then proceeded to analyze three moderator variables: subject, time periods, and grade level.The findings of the meta-analysis, both overall and sub analyses, show that the independent variable, after-school programs, has an impact on the dependent variable, reading and mathematics. The overall results indicated that after-school programs are educationally significant in the areas of reading and mathematics combined. As for the moderator variable, the results for the areas of (a) subject (reading and mathematics), (b) time period (2000-2002, 2003-2005 and 2006-2009), and (c) grade (middle, and middle plus elementary combined), all indicated educationally significant results. The notable exception was the grade moderator, elementary.This study provides more information for researchers, practitioners and policy makers upon which to make practical research based decisions about after-school programs for the purpose of determining the applicability of such in their educational setting.