Making is a movement present in the United States which fosters creativity and invention through the creation and sharing of products. This case study of one Western Pennsylvania school district's integration of Making into its lower and upper secondary schools shows how the investment in space and equipment, guided by visionary leadership, can…

Makerspaces have the potential to improve the learning outcomes of students in both middle and high schools. They support science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) style initiatives, as well as promote natural creativity among students who tend to struggle in expressing it. This study aims to gain significant insight from…

A handful of technological episodes: fire, wheel and axle, Industrial Revolution, Faraday's discovery of electromagnetic induction, the transistor, and the digital age, have historically altered humanity. We are now witnessing/participating in the next transformational technology: 3D printing. Although dating back nearly 30 years, the technology…

Over the last four years, the Afterschool Alliance and MetLife Foundation have worked together to identify exemplary, and often lesser-known afterschool programs across the nation. For the past two years, efforts have focused on finding innovative afterschool programs serving middle school students. This focus was developed to address the need for…

The Afterschool Alliance, in partnership with MetLife Foundation, is proud to present the fourth in a series of four issue briefs examining critical issues facing middle school youth and the vital role afterschool programs play in addressing these issues. This brief focuses on literacy education. While literacy's definition continues to expand to…

The Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) is a bold effort to create a network of charter schools designed to transform and improve the educational opportunities available to low/income families. KIPP schools seek to actively engage students and parents in the educational process, expand the time and effort students devote to their studies, reinforce…

Physics First has gained momentum across the country. Providing a radically different paradigm to teaching science at the high school level, the Physics First movement inverts the traditional science sequence by teaching physics to ninth grade students. One of the benefits of this change, supporters claim, is that it provides a foundation to teach…