What's Lucy Reading?

“Eyeballs in the Fridge: Sources of Early Interest in Science” is the irresistible title of a recent International Journal of Science article by Robert H. Tai and Adam V. Maltese, who teach science education at the University of Virginia and University of Indiana respectively. Mr. Tai and Mr. Maltese interviewed 76 scientists and graduate students to determine how they first became interested in science.

They discovered that 65 percent developed that interest before they reached middle school. The article describes how one young girl brought home an extra pair of cow eyes from a school dissection project. Her mother screamed in horror when she found them in the refrigerator. "From that point,” the female scientist recalled, “I started to really love science.”

Not that every student should get to take home eyeballs," Mr. Maltese later commented, "but we would recommend that they're given a chance to explore the natural world and have multiple types of experiences in science that allow them to find something they're interested in." That’s the beauty of informal science projects after school: You’re never too young.

This research brief from Child Trends (PDF, 64 KB) describes many ways out-of-school time programs are incorporating technology. Those include strengthening kids’ reading and writing skills; giving kids tools to chronicle long-term projects; and helping students exercise their creative muscles through projects that incorporate filmmaking or digital art.

Our experiences mirror the findings of the Child Trends team: it’s a challenge to pull together all the pieces for technology-assisted activities, including access to the right equipment, staff planning and training, and high quality content and curriculum. But there’s no missing the fact that kids are highly enthusiastic about activities that involve technology. The brief includes a helpful guide to resources.

“Partnerships for Learning” a paper prepared for Atlantic Philanthropies by the Harvard Family Research Project does the timely work of helping school and after-school leaders, policymakers and funders understand how schools can expand learning time and opportunities for kids by partnering strategically with community organizations (the model for TASC after-school and Expanded Learning Time /New York City programs).

The authors identify five strategies to support strong school – community organization partnerships:

• A shared vision of student learning and success, with explicit focus on supporting academics
• Blended staffing models that that enable crossover among staff
• Partnerships at multiple levels within the school and district
• Connections to family and community resources
• Regular and reciprocal collection and sharing of information about student progress

The authors write that “evidence is mounting that sustained participation in quality OST (out-of-school time) programs that have strong connections to schools yield the biggest improvements in social and academic outcomes for youth.”