We examined the impact of 4-H participation on workforce readiness skill development, including personal, work, communication, and problem solving/decision-making. The study examined two levels of 4-H activities: county-level and state-level. The online survey instrument contained questions about demographics, skill development and 4-H…

Low family socioeconomic status (SES) has been noted to impact children and youths' development, specifically in cognitive skills and risky behaviors (Brieant et al., 2021). Low SES often increases stressors for parents, may hinder monitoring of youth if parents must work multiple jobs, and may impact child-parent quality time and bonding (Conger…

Wooden planks are a tool for developing youth skills through science, technology, engineering, and math exploration. These are small planks that can be stacked to create complex structures as youths explore math and physical relationships in an applied context. Building with wooden planks also cultivates planning, reasoning, and team skills as…

This study compared four horseless and seven traditional horse participants from Washington County 4-H in Utah for horse knowledge gained and for the development of 10 life skills from Hendricks's Targeting Life Skills Model: leadership, teamwork, self-responsibility, personal safety, problem-solving, decision-making, critical thinking, goal…

Bet on Baltimore is a summer youth development program with a focus on creativity, making, and entrepreneurship created by Dent Education in 2017 and designed for Baltimore City public high school students. The goals are to engage high school students in Baltimore in meaningful work, leadership, and personal development activities and, according…

The Teen Excellence in Leadership Institute (TELI) was created to provide meaningful leadership and civic-engagement experiences to teens. We integrated Chickering's Theory of Identity Development and the 4-H Citizenship Framework to develop program objectives and a model, consisting of four components: understanding of self, developing a network,…

"Preparing Children to Thrive: Standards for Social and Emotional Learning Practices in School-Age Settings" is designed to help organizational and program leaders see clearly what social and emotional learning (SEL) among children (ages 5-13) would look like and feel like in real program settings, and to draw attention to promising…

The Social and Emotional Learning Challenge was designed to identify promising practices for building skills in six areas: emotion management, empathy, teamwork, initiative, responsibility, and problem solving. The Challenge was a partnership between expert practitioners delivering exemplary programs in eight unique communities, a team of…

The Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Challenge was designed to identify promising practices for building skills in six areas: (1) emotion management; (2) empathy; (3) teamwork; (4) initiative; (5) responsibility; and (6) problem solving. The SEL Challenge selected eight top out-of-school programs that not only make a commitment to SEL, but have…

Creative Youth Development (CYD) is a long-standing practice that fuels students' potential by intentionally integrating creative skill-building, inquiry and expression with positive youth development principles. In CYD programs, young people create original work through arts experiences and apply their creative skills to solve problems. These…

In the United States, there is a growing sense of urgency and attention to the issues of equity and youth well-being. As a nation, we devote significant expertise and resources to addressing disparities and closing gaps among groups of young people, yet our progress has been slow, in no small part because our best efforts remain deeply fragmented.…

The "Life Skills and Leadership Manual" is designed to be used by Peace Corps Volunteers and their counterparts who work with youth worldwide to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes integral to three Youth in Development sector competencies: (1) Support healthy lifestyles and prepare youth for family life; (2) Prepare youth for…

This guide, which is intended for instructors of incarcerated youth, contains materials for use in helping incarcerated youth make the transition from incarceration to a productive life. Presented first are an overview of the project during which the guide was developed and a brief history of educational programming for incarcerated youth in New…

This document presents 1999 outcome information for Minnesota's Summer Youth Employment and Training Programs (SYETPs). The document begins with a summary of statewide outcome information for the SYETPs, which served a total of 4,644 youths under Job Training Partnership Act Title IIB and 2,993 youths through the Minnesota Youth Program at an…