This toolkit describes how VR professionals can use the VR Learning Lab Model, which Y-TAC developed and field-tested, to promote youth voice and engagement in service systems improvement. Using the VR Learning Lab model, VR agencies can conduct organized activities where young people and adults come together to ask questions to find potential…

Mentoring is a series of collaborative activities and conversations between young people and older or more experienced persons (i.e., mentors) who are acting in a helping capacity to provide support that benefits one or more areas of the young person's development. This resource offers those who develop and implement mentoring services meaningful…

"A Guide to Best Practice in Special Education, Health and Social Care" explores and explains the changes in governmental policies across the education, health and social care services, and what they mean for young individuals, parents and professionals. In a period of significant change, many practitioners need to understand the…

Created in 1994 through the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) by the Improving America's Schools Act and expanded through the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program was reauthorized in 2015 in Title IV, Part B of the ESEA by…

For many years, those who work in the mentoring field have wondered how they can extend the impact of their programs beyond the benefits experienced by young people they serve. There has been an increasing desire within our field to harness the power of mentoring to enable the youth served in a program to not just grow individually, but to…

The purpose of this guide is to illuminate best practices for meaningful engagement of youth in Community Schools and to recognize youth voice as a community asset that can help advance more equitable school systems. Youth voice plays an important role in redesigning how public education functions. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted education and…

Career-connected learning is an educational strategy that combines high-quality academic instruction, skill-based learning, and real-world experiences to prepare students with the knowledge and skills that they need to pursue their career goals. Career-connected learning is especially important for an often-overlooked group of students including…

In "Learning While Black and Queer," Ed Brockenbrough outlines common obstacles to educational equity for Black youth in the LGBTQ+ community and suggests ways for educators to foster the success of Black queer students. This compassionate and actionable work advances what Brockenbrough calls a queerly responsive pedagogy, which…

YA author Pérez offers encouragement and insight into book challenges today, which are about much more than just a book. Offering tips for how to prepare for challenges and amplify student voices, the reader will also find ideas to help marginalized learners still find their way to targeted books.

This resource guide is for financial institutions interested in enhancing financial capability through partnerships with youth employment programs. It maps out how and why financial institutions can help young people achieve greater financial well-being and employment success. This document highlights youth employment programs funded under the…

This resource has been developed for pre-apprenticeship providers who wish to develop and enhance their programme to ensure that young people are equipped with the key skills they need for an apprenticeship and their future career. This resource is divided into the following sections: (1) Transversal and learn to learn skills; (2) Basic skills;…

Head Start, the largest early learning program in the United States, provides free federally funded, high-quality early learning for children alongside wraparound supports for parents. Its mission includes helping families achieve self-sufficiency and economic security, such as by helping parents access and succeed in college and workforce…

Leaders of Tomorrow is a leadership program developed by the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL) with a curriculum co-created by immigrant and refugee youth. The goal of Leaders of Tomorrow is to support and mobilize immigrant and refugee youth through opportunities to expand their knowledge, strengthen their skills, access tools and…

Head Start provides access to high-quality, affordable early learning opportunities for children alongside wraparound supports for parents which can help families achieve economic security by helping to facilitate parents' attainment of college credentials. Head Start-college collaboration can also bring important benefits to colleges and…

"The Family Partnership Process: Engaging and Goal-Setting with Families" explores how strong partnerships can positively influence the goals families set in the Family Partnership Process. This guide recommends "Seven Steps for Setting and Reaching Goals with Families" and will help program staff: (1) learn about families and…