Positive Youth Development Programs: A Research Review

1
Positive Youth Development Programs A Research
Review

• Heather Weiss, Ed.D.
• Harvard Family Research Project
• www.hfrp.org

2
HFRPs Out-of-School Time (OST) Evaluation
Database

• Contains profiles of program evaluations from
  across the country
• Criteria for inclusion
• Program operates during out-of-school time
• Evaluation aims to answer specific question(s)
• Serves children ages 5-19
• Available at www.hfrp.org

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Participation is Important for Academic Success

• Better attitudes toward school and higher
  educational aspirations
• Better performance in school, as measured by
  achievement test scores and grades
• Higher school attendance (as measured by
  attendance and tardiness)
• Less disciplinary action (e.g., suspension)

4
Participation is Important for Social/Emotional
Development

• Decreased behavioral problems
• Improved social and communication skills and/or
  relationships with others (peers, parents, and/or
  teachers)
• Increased community involvement and broadened
  world view
• Increased self-confidence and self-esteem

5
Participation is Important for Healthy Physical
Development

• Avoidance of drug and alcohol use
• Decreases in delinquency and violent behaviors
• Increased knowledge of safe sex and avoidance of
  sexual activity and pregnancy
• Increased skills for coping with peer pressure

6
Participation is Important for 21st Century Skill
Development

• Expert Thinking Identifying and solving new
  problems
• Complex communication Eliciting critical
  information and conveying a convincing
  interpretation of it to others
• Proficiency in the basics

7
Spotlight on Positive Youth Development Programs

• Many programs include positive youth development
  activities and goals with academic enrichment.
  Evaluations reveal positive associations with
  academic outcomes.
• Even some PYD programs that do not include an
  academic component demonstrate positive academic
  effects (grades, attendance, homework completion,
  motivation, etc.)

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Spotlight on Positive Youth Development Programs

• Examples
• Participating in drug prevention program plus
  self esteem component predicted improved test
  scores
• A higher number of hours in community service
  activities was associated with higher test scores
• Students in a multi-component program benefited
  from homework help and tutoring more when they
  also participated in social skills training

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Factors That Influence Participant Outcomes

• Age
• Socio-economic status
• Program quality
• Participation

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Key features of quality in OST programs

• 1. Positive staff-child interactions
• 2. Interesting, engaging activities
• 3. Opportunities for meaningful youth involvement
  
• 4. Positive peer interactions
• 5. Learning-oriented/ skill-building activities
• 6. Autonomy / balance of autonomy and structure
• 7. Connections with other contexts (school, home,
  community)
• 8. Variety in activities

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What is Participation ?

• Participation
• Enrollment Attendance
• Engagement

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Attendance Intensity

• Definition
• The amount of time youth participate in an
  activity in a given time period
• Measurement
• Hours per day
• Days per week
• Sessions per month
• Percentage of time

13
Attendance Duration

• Definition
• Youths history of participation
• Measurement
• Number of terms
• Number of years

14
Attendance Breadth

• Definition
• The variety of youths participation within or
  across programs
• Measurement
• Number of different activities within a single
  program
• Number of different activities across multiple
  programs

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How Much Is Enough? Model 1 The Threshold Model
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How Much is Enough? Model 2 The Linear Model
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How Much is Enough? Model 3 The Curvilinear
Model