Research Newsletters

Afterschool STEM Quarterly Research Review (ASQRR)

Fall 2024 Afterschool STEM Research Review

In this edition, we are delighted to highlight how afterschool STEM programs are engaging with complex community, national, and global challenges by inspiring young people to use their imagination in solving problems and sparking community change. The two articles showcased evaluate both the programs’ impact on youth and the youths’ impact on their communities.

Summer 2024 Afterschool STEM Research Review

In this edition, we are delighted to highlight an article concentrated on afterschool STEM programming reaching Latinx youth, with a focus on cultural responsiveness and leveraging the funds of knowledge approach to engagement in math. We also provide an interview with researchers, Michele Sky Lee and Ronda Jenson at Northern Arizona University, focused on their recent research surrounding neurodivergent STEM learners.

Spring 2024 Afterschool STEM Research Review

In this edition, we highlight two articles - one focused on gender-equitable teaching practices and the other on infrastructural injustices in community-driven afterschool STEM. In addition to the article summaries, two new features are included in this newsletter that we are excited to share. First, we introduce a Research Spotlight, where we interview a doctoral student currently studying youth-designed afterschool STEM spaces. We also feature a Research on the Horizon section, providing a preview of research currently in development.

Winter 2024 Afterschool STEM Research Review

In this review, we provide a synopsis of afterschool STEM research and offer implications for practice, research, and policy. In sharing timely research updates and discovering knowledge gaps, our hope is that awareness, investment in, and support of the afterschool STEM field can continue to grow, learn, and adapt to better serve our youth.

The Afterschool Lab Reports

Access past editions of the Afterschool Lab Report below.

May 2022

USICA/COMPETES letter from the Afterschool Alliance; National Science Foundation grants; new online summer STEM program

January 2022

$30B at stake for education investments; key present and future policy focus for STEM; Million Girls Moonshot Flight Crew; family engagement

September 2021

Fiscal Year 2022; Back to Afterschool with STEM; Lights On Afterschool 2021; Computer Science Education Week 2021; Million Girls Moonshot

June 2021

New report from America After 3PM; American Rescue Plan and White House FY22 budget proposal; ASTC virtual conference 2021

February 2021

American Rescue Plan; Engineer for the Week 2021; virtual conference on the integration of STEM and social-emotional development

November 2020

2020 election update; House and Senate funding bills; Afterschool STEM Hub's memo to the Biden transition team

April 2020

A message about STEM learning during the pandemic.

January 2020

Upcoming twitter chat on the 2020 Census; updates on the December 11 Measures in Common Convening; and new studies from Girls Inc. and PEAR on afterschool STEM

October 2019

CSforAll launches new EcoSystemsforCS initiative; the Office of Science and Technology Policy releases an update on the White House 5-year STEM strategic plan; and more than 10,000 Lights On Afterschool events nationwide

July 2019

Building Blocks of STEM Act passes the House; new STEM one-pager from the Afterschool Alliance; and registration for the 20th Lights On Afterschool

April 2019

A new toolkit for CTE; a call for commitments to CSforAll; and a case study on family engagement and STEM from PEAR

January 2019

Information on the government shutdown; a new memo to federal agencies; and four new STEM program profiles

October 2018

CTE bill Signed into law by president; news from the 2018 CSforAll Summit; and an announcement for new convening of afterschool researchers and practitioners.

September 2018

Extra Credit! New resources from the Afterschool STEM Hub now available. Explore new advocacy tools on our toolkit pages.

July 2018

White House holds STEM summit; feedback from the Afterschool STEM Hub to OSTP on Five-Year Strategic Plan; and two must read issues of Connected Science Learning

April 2018

FY2018 spending bill approved by Congress; a new makeover for the Afterschool STEM Hub website; and advocates from around the country joined together to support afterschool and summer learning for the Afterschool for All Challenge

January 2018

A new White House STEM advisor; updates from Computer Science Education Week; and two must-read articles from Science Education

October 2017

State ESSA plans from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico; a new guide to the Afterschool STEM Swamp; and news from the CSforAll Summit and Lights On Afterschool

July 2017

H.R. 2352 passes the House of Representatives with bipartisan support; advocates from 45 states met with members of Congress for the Afterschool for All Challenge; and three must-read articles from the latest issue of Afterschool Matters