Technology, Out-of-School Learning, and Human Development

Investigators: Deborah Lowe Vandell, Mark Warschauer
Funding: Charles Stewart Mott Foundation

This study works with a community learning center in Southern California that represents one of the most ambitious out-of-school learning programs in the nation. Drawing on an asset-driven approach and making use of an advanced technological infrastructure, the center seeks to combine activities geared toward facilitating positive youth development and high-quality education in a variety of career-oriented programs targeting diverse students in Grades 4-12.

In the first year of this two-year study of the center's work and impact, we collected baseline data on the program and its participants. The second year is devoted to a rigorous impact study that draws on both quantitative and qualitative data in order to measure the program's effect on participants' learning, attitudes, and career orientation. The study will contribute to the knowledge base about the value of an asset-driven, technology-intensive approach to out-of-school programming. For additional information about the study, click here.