Science learning in informal, out-of-school settings is the focus of a new two-year research project, my colleague Erik Robelen writes in the Curriculum Matters blog today.
Erik writes:
The two-year project, being undertaken by researchers at the University of Virginia and the University of Colorado at Boulder, will involve a mapping study to describe the contexts, characteristics, and practices of a national sample of science-focused out-of-school time programs and identify exemplary programs for further study. In addition, the research will examine the expectations and assumptions that out-of-school-time experts and national policymakers have for informal science education."
Erik provides many more details about the National Science Foundation-funded study at Curriculum Matters.
In other edweek.org blogging news, Alyson Klein writes in Politics K-12 about a proposed omnibus spending bill in the Senate Appropriations Committee. The bill, which could be considered by the full Senate as early as tomorrow, would include the controversial provision allowing 21st Century Community Learning Center funding to be used to fund extended school days, as well as after-school programs. More later.