The Quest for Mastery: Positive Youth Development Through Out-of-School Programs

Abstract

Reviews the book,The Quest for Mastery: Positive Youth Development Through Out-of-School Programs. This book is an important and unique contribution to the burgeoning literature on out-of-school time contexts and issues of educational inequality. It is an uplifting and optimistic portrayal of the innovative work taking place in often under examined spaces of youth development. Over the past twenty years, after school programs have experienced increasing pressure from public and private funders to demonstrate measurable academic outcomes. In addition, their insights as youth leaders, educators, and experienced academics in urban education and sports studies offer a prismatic lens into the possibilities of out-of-school programs in the education reform movement. The authors' openness and enthusiasm in discussing out-of-school time makes this book an accessible and informative resource for those already engaged in this work-policy makers, funders, and after school practitioners-as well as for potential newcomers to the topic, such as teachers, researchers, and education reformers. For those teaching about urban education and education reform, The Quest for Mastery could be an important primer on the role of structured out-of-school time programming in expanding students' social networks and academic engagement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved)