Students' knowledge about a profession influences their future decisions about careers. Research indicates that students tend to hold stereotypical views of engineers, which would hinder engineering as a career choice. The purpose of this study was to measure how participating in a week long engineering summer camp affected middle school students'…

Many children experience summer learning loss during the summer as measured by grade-level equivalents on standardized tests. Camp-based reading programs are a promising strategy to reduce summer learning loss. Situated within a positive youth development (PYD) theoretical approach, this study explored the efficacy of a U.S. camp-based reading…

Research evidence suggests that summer breaks contribute to income-based achievement and opportunity gaps for children and youth. However, summertime can also be used to provide programs that support an array of goals for children and youth, including improved academic achievement, physical health, mental health, social and emotional well-being,…

Research suggests that family camp experiences can enhance family relationships. Families often participate in family camp experiences for a vacation, as part of a therapeutic and/or intervention strategy, or to gain general enrichment or engagement. To better understand the impacts of family camp experiences on family functioning, a mixed-methods…

Social reciprocity deficits are a core feature of the autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and a major source of impairment regardless of cognitive or language ability (Carter, Davis, Klin, & Volkmar, 2005). Since these impairments do not naturally remit with age, it is critical to intervene as early as possible to offset potential risk factors…

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a 2-week therapeutic summer day camp for children with ADHD, which included a social skills training program and parent psychoeducation and training program. This was an open-label, nonrandomized Phase I Clinical Intervention Trial. Method: Parents completed the Weiss…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a peer intervention program designed to increase interactions between children with and without disabilities in an inclusive summer camp. A multiple probe single subject design was used to determine the effects of the STAR intervention on six dyads of campers aged five through ten over two…

Within school environments, where bullying interventions are usually studied, the preponderance of bullying incidents generally occur in less structured settings (Hazler, 1996; Leff, Power, Costigan, & Manz, 2003; Olweus, 1997). Outside of school, children spend time in relatively unstructured community environments, with minimally trained staff.…

This article addresses the need for therapeutic camps to support the disproportionate number of African-American children in out of home foster care and group home placements. A brief review of literature on camp interventions and their failure to adequately address the influence of ethnicity and culture is provided. A pilot of a small culturally…