In 2021, approximately five million young people in the United States were not in school or working. This group of young people transitioning to adulthood, roughly ages 16 to 24, are often referred to as "opportunity youth" and sometimes "disconnected youth." Young people from low-income families and from communities of…

In 2007 and 2008, I worked with a team of adult and youth researchers from Youth Media Action, an independent media outlet, on a participatory action research project to better understand the media needs and interests of urban youth. This study centers on training and working with a group of youth researcher to conduct a community needs assessment…

The Summer Training and Education Program (STEP) research demonstration was initiated in 1984 to test the effects of a two-summer remediation, work, and life skills intervention on the lives of 14- and 15-year-olds from poor urban families who were already seriously behind academically. The program provided youth with half-day summer jobs combined…

Some of the main issues surrounding the operation of mentoring programs for minority youth are outlined and illustrated through the example of the Male Youth Project, a church-based program in Washington, D.C. Screening, orienting, and rewarding mentors are aspects of program operation that are fundamental. Other issues include the youth to mentor…

Suggests that work training programs based on the concepts of democracy and entrepreneurship may facilitate improvements in employment opportunities for disadvantaged and minority youth. Attributes unemployment to deficiencies in the current economic and social structure, and discusses design and implementation problems in current employment…

This document presents five winning entries in the second annual competition for papers reporting research and policy studies on the topic of youth employability. In their paper entitled "The Impact of Employment and Training Programs on the Work Attitudes of Disadvantaged Youth," Michael Forcier and Andrew Hahn review and synthesize the…

Designed to provide basic information on the linkages achieved under the Youth Employment and Demonstration Projects Act (YEDPA), this report focuses on education/Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) linkages, the vocational education/CETA connection, and the role of postsecondary institutions (particularly minority colleges) in…

The Beacons Initiative aimed to transform eight public schools (five middle schools and three high schools) into youth and family centers in low-income neighborhoods in San Francisco, California. Using a coalition of local partners and funding from public agencies and foundations, the centers served 7,500 youth and adults between July 1, 1999, and…

Practical ways are presented to promote healthy and nonviolent relationships for youth, guided by the belief that prevention is cheaper and more effective than deterrence or punishment. Equality and balance are the basis of prevention efforts. It must be acknowledged that violence is ingrained in cultural expressions of power and inequality, and…

Chapter 1 aims will not be achieved until disadvantaged youngsters are succeeding in the regular program and exhibiting grade-level proficiency. To succeed, Chapter 1 programs must be coordinated with regular instruction, emphasize more than basic skills, and abandon low learning expectations and stereotyped notions of poor and minority students.…

There is an urgent need not only to attract more people into the teaching profession but also to build a more diverse, highly qualified, and culturally sensitive teaching force that can meet the needs of a rapidly changing school-age population. This Toolkit takes best practices from high school teacher academies around the United States and…

This implementation guide is based on the development and implementation of the Job Search Pilot Project (see CE 024 845), which was designed to provide a program utilizing a public library as a community-based information center. The center is intended to assist low-income or unemployed adults and out-of-school youths to find vocational…

The Urban Teacher Academy Project (UTAP) promotes the recruitment and preparation of qualified and diverse teachers for urban schools by expanding a school-to-career approach through high school teaching career academies. The UTAP has documented the best practices and developed practical information to guide the formation of career teaching…

Using multilevel methods to analyze data from 710 household heads in 45 Detroit (Michigan) area school districts, results show that minority and disadvantaged respondents, especially from the city, favor parental school choice. Potential effects of an interdistrict choice plan are discussed, suggesting that choice might favor inequities. (SLD)

This study argues that school-to-work programs should be institutionalized in the schools to provide assistance to students without vocational education, who are not headed for college. Such students, it is asserted, are often disadvantaged, minority, and otherwise underserved youth. The report examines the issue of "school-to-work"…