The five-year initiative New Skills for Youth (NSFY) aimed to transform career readiness education and bridge the skills gap by supporting innovative strategies in 10 states across the United States. NSFY was one of the earliest and most impactful philanthropic investments in career pathways and career readiness in recent history and helped spark…

Having paraprofessional providers, such as youth mentors, deliver evidence-based services, has been posited to increase the reach of youth services given the affordability and ubiquity of mentors in school settings. Further, examinations of mentor-delivered Motivational Interviewing (MI) have shown promise in increasing youth mentees' academic…

In Boston and Providence, youth serving organizations recognized a need to credential students' real-world skills including teamwork, perseverance and critical thinking. By issuing digital badges, a microcredential gaining traction in both workforce development and education, programs are equipping students with portable evidence of their skills,…

First authorized by Congress in January 2014, P3 allows a limited number of local projects that are focused on youth to align and better coordinate federally-funded programs and services. Although focused on a particular subset of youth -- those who are disconnected or at risk of becoming disconnected from education or the workforce -- the program…

University faculty and Extension educators sought to use school gardens in Burundi, Africa, as a means of reducing food insecurity, teaching positive youth development, and increasing experiential learning for Burundian students. Washington State University personnel used videoconferencing to provide training to Burundian nongovernmental…

Background: Progress monitoring (PM) is the periodic and reliable assessment of client progress to evaluate and inform psychotherapeutic treatment. PM's use in a variety of treatment contexts show improved treatment outcome, dropout rate reduction, moderated treatment deterioration, and more efficient treatment delivery. Objective: This study…

As part of an ongoing, multi-million dollar Wallace Foundation initiative to improve and expand arts learning opportunities for young people, the Wallace Foundation, in partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA), developed the Youth Arts Initiative (YAI) to deliver otherwise inaccessible high-quality arts programs to low-income…

How can afterschool programs engage middle school students of color as they enter their teenage years? The authors asked this question while working with the Bridge Project, a drop-in community-based academic enrichment program serving low-income children and adolescents of color living in public housing in Denver, Colorado. Faced with dwindling…

While the "scientific" debate about school dropouts has ensued, some have taken matters into their own hands, creating successful non-school based programs on the arts for at-risk youth based. Their efforts demonstrate powerful results for learning and human development. We suggest that it is time to incorporate this knowledge base, and…

There is a definite need for effective intervention programmes that address the social-emotional, character and healthy development of preschool children. Strong social-emotional skills are necessary for successful transitions to formal schooling and for healthy developmental trajectories. The "Positive Action" ("PA") programme…

The Young Artists at Work Program at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) recently shifted its model from an afterschool arts program to a young artists' residency. This decision arose from a desire to reposition the youth program as a priority within the larger organization, coupled with a commitment to deepening the pedagogical values of…

This research study examined the extent of long-term participation in Girls on the Run (GOTR), an experiential learning program for pre-adolescent girls, and its effect on healthy living and self-esteem. To explore these relationships, an exploratory, mixed-methods study was conducted, which involved open- and closed-ended surveys and interviews.…

Purpose: A signature characteristic of positive youth development (PYD) programs is the opportunity to develop life skills, such as social, behavioral, and moral competencies, that can be generalized to domains beyond the immediate activity. Although context-specific instruments are available to assess developmental outcomes, a measure of…

Eat, Grow, Lead 4-H Club was created as a pilot program for college students seeking to gain experience as non-formal youth educators, specifically serving pre-entry level Extension educators through a university-based 4-H club. Seventeen student volunteers contributed an estimated 630 hours of service to the club during spring 2011. The club…

The media plays a significant role in shaping cultural norms and attitudes, concomitantly reinforcing "body" and "beauty" ideals and gender stereotypes. Unrealistic, photoshopped and stereotyped images used by the media, advertising and fashion industries influence young people's body image and impact on their feelings of body…