New study shows impact of youth development programs on student success
3/17/2011
The National Collaboration for Youth, a coalition of leading national nonprofit youth development agencies for more than 40 years, has released information about the impact of youth development programs on student academic success. The brief cites evaluations and profiles of a sample of diverse community-based programs that affect student performance and reduce negative outcomes. Among them:
- Students in the Boys and Girls Club Student Enrichment Project had higher grade averages and scores in reading, spelling, history, science and social studies than a control group.
- Participants in the Teen Outreach Program have significantly less risk of pregnancy, school suspension, and course failure than the control group.
The brief cites the importance of a full-range of developmental assets in school, home and the community that youth need to succeed. It indicates that “meaningful progress in improving educational outcomes must involve multiple stakeholders and a variety of sustained efforts over time.”
“It’s great that education reform and high school graduation rates are getting the attention they require,” said Irv Katz, president of the National Human Services Assembly and a representative of the National Collaboration for Youth. “But we’re missing the boat if we don’t actively and aggressively involve the youth development programs that collectively reach nearly as many children as the public schools and that have no objective other than to help youth succeed in life.”
The National Collaboration for Youth, an Alliance partner, is a long-standing coalition of national organizations committed to advocating with and on behalf of youth and, in particular, in research-driven “positive youth development.”