[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-590406-105":59,"doc-detail-590406-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","the-quest-for-quality-in-afterschool-science-the-development-and-application-of-a-new-tool","the quest for quality in afterschool science - The Development and application of a new Tool","","The text examines how students’ interest in STEM often declines when science is taught in school, and argues that out-of-school time (OST) programs can sustain and expand that interest. It highlights the need for reliable, systematic ways to judge program quality, noting that participation in low-quality programs can harm youth development. A central focus is the development of the DoS observation tool, including its structure, professional development for use, and a case study applying it in an urban OST setting.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-quest-for-quality-in-afterschool-science-the-development-and-application-of-a-new-tool/590406/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-quest-for-quality-in-afterschool-science-the-development-and-application-of-a-new-tool/590406.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Pentious","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-02","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":24},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why is students’ attitude toward school science often “mixed”?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The text notes that students’ initial interest in science can dwindle because of how science is taught in school, leading to mixed attitudes toward school science.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How do out-of-school time (OST) programs affect students’ STEM engagement?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"STEM experiences in OST are described as helping cultivate and multiply students’ initial interest, supporting motivation and engagement to learn STEM in school.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What problem does the DoS observation tool address?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The tool supports systematic and reliable observation by providing definitions and indicators of STEM program quality, making it possible to assess high versus low program quality.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},590406,1792891880,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":24,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":39,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":46,"preview_page_count":4},1374404730887,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","the quest for quality in afterschool science  \nThe Development and application of a new Tool  \nby Anahit Evoyan Papazian, Gil Gabriel Noam, Ashima Mathur Shah, and Caitlin Rufo-McCormick  \nStudies have found that, though many students have generally positive attitudes toward science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), their attitudes toward school science are “mixed” (Sjøberg & Schreiner, 2006) . Students’ initial interest in science often dwindles because of the way science is taught in school (Krajcik, Czerniak, & Berger, 2003) .  \nBy contrast, out-of-school time (OST) programs are intermediary spaces that connect opportunities across a range of contexts (Noam, Biancarosa, & Dechausay, 2003) . STEM experiences in OST can cultivate and multiply students’ initial interest in science, helping students to stay motivated and engaged to learn STEMin school. Afterschool and summer settings are being identified as environments for engaging youth in STEM and building their interest in pursuing future STEM careers (Coalition for Science After School, 2004) .  \nGrowing evidence shows that participation in OST activities positively supports youth development in general (Hall, Yohalem, Tolman, & Wilson, 2003; Vandel,  \nANAHiT EVoYAN PAPAziAN is a project manager at the Program in Education, Afterschool, and Resiliency (PEAR), at Harvard University and McLean Hospital. Her background is in education and public health. She earned her master’s degree in public health from Lund University in Sweden. Her academic interests focus on research and assessment development in informal science education.  \nGiL GABRiEL NoAM, Ed. D., Ph. D. (Habil), is the founder and director of PEAR. An associate professor at Harvard Medical School and McLean Hospital focusing on prevention and resilience, Gil is trained asa clinical and developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst. His work has stressed afterschool as a context conducive to prevention and to child-centered informal learning activities. His academic interests have expanded to include science learning in informal environments. ASHiMA MATHuR SHAH is a postdoctoral research fellow at PEAR. She studied biology and child development at Tufts University and completed her [Ph.D. in](Ph.D. in) science education at the University of Michigan. Her interests include science curriculum development, professional development, science teacher education, and the design and study of observation tools for quality in science teaching and learning. CAiTLiN RuFo-MCCoRMiCK is a consultant for out-of-school time and urban education in the Boston area. She served as the senior director of youth development at East End House Community Center in Cambridge from 2009 to 2012. Previously she directed afterschool programs for urban youth in Texas and Massachusetts. She received [her M.A. in](her M.A. in) English from Bar-Ilan University, Israel, and her M. Ed. from the University of Massachusetts.  \nReisner, & Pierce, 2007) and STEM learning in particular (Tamir, 1991) . However, simply participating in a selfidentified STEM program is not sufficient. Youth will benefit more if they participate in quality afterschool programs (Mahoney, Levine, & Hinga, 2010) . In fact, participation in a low-quality program can negatively affect youth development (National Institute on Out-of-School Time, 2009) . Therefore, a common understanding of quality indicatorsin STEM OST is vital not only for researchers and evalu  \nators but also for afterschool program leaders and staff.  \nAn important way of knowing whether programs are of high or low quality is to observe them systematically and reliably. Such observation is practically impossible without good definitions of what constitutes quality. Observation tools employing such definitions and related indicators are being developed and applied both in schools (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 2012) and in OST programs (Gitomer, 2012) . Reputable observation tools for assess-  \nDoS is ta","cbCaibXK9pZVyvwW","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaibXK9pZVyvwW","pdf",928160,"English","# the quest for quality in afterschool science\n## The Development and application of a new Tool\n## Development of the DoS Observation Tool","[{\"question\":\"Why is students’ attitude toward school science often “mixed”?\",\"answer\":\"The text notes that students’ initial interest in science can dwindle because of how science is taught in school, leading to mixed attitudes toward school science.\"},{\"question\":\"How do out-of-school time (OST) programs affect students’ STEM engagement?\",\"answer\":\"STEM experiences in OST are described as helping cultivate and multiply students’ initial interest, supporting motivation and engagement to learn STEM in school.\"},{\"question\":\"What problem does the DoS observation tool address?\",\"answer\":\"The tool supports systematic and reliable observation by providing definitions and indicators of STEM program quality, making it possible to assess high versus low program quality.\"}]","the quest for quality in afterschool science - The Development and application of a new Tool | PDF",1792069574]