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Created by ExpandED Schools by TASC, this resource guide profiles promising strategies that advance informal STEM learning. It provides an overview of core elements of the national Frontiers in Urban Science Exploration strategy, profiles of city and county-wide STEM initiatives, afterschool curriculum resources for STEM activities, and more.

“STEM Related After-School Program Activities and Associated Outcomes on Student Learning” provides findings that may be useful to afterschool leaders seeking support for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) programs in their afterschool programs. Published in the journal Educational Sciences: Theory & Practices, the article discusses findings from a qualitative case study of how afterschool STEM programs affect collaborative learning and students’ interest in STEM fields and 21st-century skills. Free registration is required to access the full article.

The Afterschool Training Toolkit for Math contains a suite of professional development materials to help your 21st CCLC provide engaging math enrichment activities. Resources include information on best practices and the research base supporting them, video clips of the practices in action to use for professional development, and lesson plans so that your team can practice implementing these strategies.

The National 4-H Council has produced a series of professional development training modules for programs wishing to increase their capacity to offer robotics at their sites. The 4-H Robotics Professional Development Modules assist afterschool coordinators in providing training for staff, volunteers, and teen leaders. Modules include a “Getting Started Guide,” a comprehensive robotics overview, information on recruitment and partnerships, and ideas on expanding and strengthening a new robotics program. Free registration is required to access the guide.

Published in the journal Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, this article examines the effect of a holistic afterschool intervention on reading comprehension for at-risk students in grades 2 through 5. The study showed encouraging results: The 91 student participants showed gains in reading comprehension scores after the intervention. Results of afterschool tutoring lend support to the use of peer tutoring in afterschool in elementary schools.

Click2Science is an interactive, professional development site for trainers, coaches, site directors, and frontline staff/volunteers working in out-of-school time programs serving children and youth. The site offers professional development resources, including videos and a professional community of practice. The site is free and requires user registration.

The number of jobs requiring proficiency in 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. Published by the Afterschool Alliance, this issue brief explores how afterschool programs can take advantage of their flexible learning environments to help students develop STEM skills. The brief also discusses underrepresented populations in STEM careers and the current state of K-12 computing and engineering education.

The U.S. Department of Education’s You for Youth team is hosting a webinar entitled Supporting Literacy with Y4Y on Wednesday, February 19, 2014, at 2 p.m. CST. The webinar will explore how out-of-school time programs can support comprehensive literacy efforts, discuss specific strategies for working with students who read below grade level, investigate how to support students’ language and literacy skills by involving families and building community partnerships, and develop ideas about integrating literacy into your program using the Y4Y portal.

Published by California-based Summer Matters, this report describes how children and youth participate in summer learning experiences that prepare them for the new expectations and teaching strategies they will face under the Common Core State Standards. It illustrates the unique opportunity summer learning programs give educators working to implement the Common Core State Standards to experiment with new lesson plans and instructional strategies and assess their effectiveness in a low-pressure, but genuine learning environment.

The Afterschool Alliance, in partnership with MetLife Foundation, has produced an issue brief on Afterschool and the Common Core State Standards. The brief outlines the education environment that led to the development of the standards and their purpose. It also explains how afterschool programs can help schools implement Common Core State Standards and provides examples of specific programs and activities that support implementation. In addition to the issue brief, the Afterschool Alliance has also created an informational one pager on afterschool and the Common Core State Standards.