Jean Kirshner holds a Ph.D. in Education and Human Resource Development from Colorado State University and specializes in literacy and teacher education. Jean started her career as the Early Childhood Director at Saint Ignatius Grammar School, Chicago in 1988. After two years she joined the Child Opportunity Program in Denver as a Head Start…

The US Forest Service has a long history of youth conservation education. We investigated U.S. Forest Service citizen science programs that involve secondary school students in field collection of monitoring data to understand (1) how the programs integrated science and environmental education and (2) whether these programs advance ecological…

College student mentors are increasingly mentoring at-risk youth, yet little is known about the benefits that college students derive from their experience mentoring within the context of a service-learning course. This qualitative study used focus groups to examine college students' experiences as participants in a unique program, Campus Corps:…

This paper examines research that can inform policies aimed at building the capacity of early care and education programs to promote parent engagement in linguistically diverse families. The key questions addressed include: 1) What factors affect linguistically diverse families' access to early care and education programs?; 2) What do we know…

The Afterschool Alliance and MetLife Foundation are proud to celebrate a fifth round of the MetLife Foundation Afterschool Innovator Awards. For the past five years, we have collaborated to highlight the work of quality afterschool programs that support children, families and communities across the nation. This compendium is a compilation of four…

This report focuses on the seven original Youth Transition Demonstration (YTD) projects selected for funding in 2003. Three of the original seven projects were selected for a national random assignment evaluation in 2005; however, this report only focuses on program operations prior to joining the random assignment evaluation for the three…

Underserved youths are affected by a variety of circumstances such as poverty, poor nutrition, and low physical activity levels. While many extended-day physical activity programs exist, few focus on the importance of health and wellness. The purpose of this article is to describe the development of an extended-day program for underserved youths…

These "Stories From the Field" describe five Wallace-funded programs working to expand learning and enrichment for disadvantaged children, so they can benefit from the types of opportunities their wealthier counterparts have access to, from homework help to swimming classes. The report details each program's approach, successes and…

This issue provides information on recent publications and resources on outcomes for teenagers in families receiving or transitioning off the welfare rolls and in innovative youth development programs for those and other at-risk youth. Thirteen publications are listed for additional information. A list of 17 Web sites for more information is…

This paper is one in a series of research papers related to the state role in youth employment and training. It describes seven state-sponsored youth employment and training programs, representing a varied range of approaches that states have undertaken to address their youth employment problems. The first section of this paper provides capsule…

To meet the growing demand for recreation services in rural communities, the Colorado Rural Recreation Director's Project (CRRDP) works as a partnership between the University of Colorado in Boulder and rural Colorado communities. During the summer months, each participating community (52 since the project's beginning in 1981) receives the…

Chapter I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) is the largest federally-funded program designed to provide services to elementary and secondary students to meet the special needs of educationally deprived students who reside in areas with high concentrations of low-income families. The 1994-95 school year is the last year of…

The instructional part of Trinidad's Follow Through program is based on the High Scope model developed by the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, a nonprofit organization headed by Dr. David Weikart. Now in its second year, the program emphasizes the development of individualized conceptual competence. Certain kindergarten through grade…

Developmental assets are a research-based list of 40 essential building blocks of healthy youth development and comprise the relationships, experiences, and values that youth need to grow up caring, confident, and responsible. This kit is a resource designed for elementary schools and organizations working with youth and parents to help them…

A study was conducted to develop a packet of individual instruments for use in evaluating and perfecting the effectiveness of all special vocational education programs in Colorado. Nine special programs located in schools in eastern Colorado were selected for the study. A literature review, on-site observations, and individual interviews were used…