"This volume of New Directions for Child Development presents recent research on out-of-school programs that seek to promote knowledge, competence, and a sense of belonging for diverse youths. By employing innovative approaches that link developing children and youths to their community contexts, such programs can effectively address the issues of risk that beset so many children in the United States. Moreover, the developmental contextual perspective set forth by this work highlights the idea that learning, like any human characteristic or process, must be understood by analyzing relations between the child and the multiple contexts within which he or she functions."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved