Foundation Grants
2006 Edmund A. Stanley, Jr. Research Grants
Donna Alvermann, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia.
Alvermann has been funded to document and analyze the ways in which the literacy practices of afterschool web-based youth communities contribute to young people's engagement with reading and writing. The study will utilize youth as researchers to document how web-based communities foster motivation and self-efficacy, particularly for those who are struggling academically.
Ron Fairchild. Center for Summer Learning at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.
Fairchild has been funded to do a research synthesis on summer learning programs, including an overview and history and exploration of summer programs' multiple roles. The synthesis will also include a description of summer program models, as well as examine policies, funding and legislation that are shaping summer programs to be more academically oriented. The synthesis will end with a description of the next wave of policies, and distill current discussions and debates as well as recommend future directions.
Kris Gutierrez, University of California, Los Angeles, CA
Gutierrez has been funded to conduct research examining how opportunities for play and imagination through the use of new technologies, such as digital storytelling, reorganize literacy learning in ways that expand immigrant children's language and literacy. The research site will be an afterschool club designed as a collaborative learning environment for children and UCLA undergraduates who serve as mentors.
Mira-Lisa Katz, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA.
Katz has been funded to study how participation in afterschool dance programs support young women's identity development, cognitive growth and social well-being. In addition, the study will explore how multi-modal approaches, such as dance, can inform and expand current teaching practices and best support positive learning experiences of high-school age youth.
K. Maeve Powlick, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York
This study will examine the relationship between 21st Century Community Learning Centers and economic development in communities of multi-generational poverty. The study will be collaborative, engaging 21stCCLCs, the New York State Center for School Safety, and the New York State After School Network. In addition, it will engage high school youth from the Harvey Milk School in New York City as well as college students from Skidmore College as researchers.
Charles Smith, High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, Ypsalanti, MI.
Smith has been funded to conduct a secondary analysis of a database produced through the Youth Program Quality Assessment Validation Study. The study will focus on relationships between community-based organizations and their partners in afterschool programs funded by the 21st Century Community Learning Centers. The funding from The Robert Bowne Foundation will help to provide directions on how regulatory and accountability procedures can build quality in the afterschool sectors.
