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An After-School Literacy and Leadership Development Program for Girls: Sisters Together in Action Research (STAR)

Released January 2004

STAR was an after-school literacy and leadership development program for low-income early adolescent and teenage girls (ages 9-18) in North Philadelphia. The program brought together groups of girls to design and conduct action research in their schools and communities. The curriculum was designed to help girls develop their capacity to assess and act on behalf of their interests in and beyond school. During the 2001-2002 school year, STAR added a new service learning component (funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation) in which high school girls carried out research on literacy among their peers, became literacy mentors for younger girls, and wrote publishable curriculum materials to support development of literacy skills.

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