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Forum Brief

Lessons from R&D on Youth Development:
What Works in Education, School-to-Work and Employment Training?

A Forum — September 13, 1996

Overview

Today's forum featured Gary Walker, President of Public/Private Ventures in Philadelphia, who shared his experiences derived from 30 years of work with youth development programs and public policies.  Walker began by suggesting three options for youth policymakers and practitioners: (1) give up on policy and admit failure; (2) keep promoting new policies on the grounds of moral advocacy, assuming that one day the proper balance will be struck; and (3) reflect back on the recent history of youth policy, using experience to develop better policies and practices.

According to Walker, youth policy has become important only since the end of World War II.  Prior to the 1940's, society was based more on family and community connectedness.  Shortly thereafter, a number of factors began to force a more disconnected society--a focus on the individual replaced the broad sense of community, companies began moving to the suburbs, more families had both parents working and resources were directed away from schools.

Youth policies and programs developed in the 1960s reflected this lack of connection in society.  While research found many positive but small, short-term benefits from these programs, there was no mechanism for linking these programs to one another.  Young people, therefore, were unable to build on the benefits of prior experiences in a cumulative manner.  As a result, the public began to view programs--especially programs for older teens--as failures in preparing youth for work and life.  This helped lead to the attitude that "if you don't get to children early, they will fail."

These "failures" lay a foundation for new policies based on the lessons learned from the last 30 years.  Two central conclusions set the framework for the "next steps" of youth policy:

  1. Sixty to seventy percent of programs that have been evaluated provide evidence of positive outcomes.  These benefits, however, are generally short-term, although they are more pronounced in programs serving young children (such as Head Start).
  2. Funding has never focused on continuous youth development or on connecting the benefits of one program to another.  This has led to a fragmented system of youth policy, as young people jump from one program to another.  As a result, the benefits which each program do produce are unable to build upon each other.
These conclusions suggest that youth policy should seek ways to connect the scattered pieces of the youth development system.  According to Walker, no one program can be so comprehensive so as to "save all kids," but there are ways to have an impact on the lives of youth.  The challenge, however, is that as young people grow older, it becomes harder to find things that work.  For these late teens/early adults, developing a sense of connectedness across youth programs and policies is even more critical.

The key, stated Walker, is to take a young person who has made gains through participation in a program, then "create a connection to keep those gains alive."  Over time, the progressive accumulation of short-term benefits will lead to long-term benefits.  Benefits, however, will not be derived only by attacking the "negative" attributes of youth, but also by building up their existing strengths.  This, too, will promote a system in which the positive gains of one program build on each other.

Discussion Period

The discussion period centered around how such reforms would be implemented.  Walker stressed that developing this type of system will not occur overnight.  It will require the involvement, commitment and partnership of members and organizations within individual communities, including schools, employers, parents and youth-serving organizations.  Walker specifically highlighted the school-to-work initiative as a model of how to promote connectedness.  School-to-work partnerships, developed and operated at the local level, have found that a middle-ground is required between a bottom-up and top-down approach.  Within this system, members of local communities work in conjunction with district, state and federal leaders to create a progression of school- and work-based activities for young people to navigate during all stages of their development.  Thus, school-to-work can serve as a roadmap for the broader youth development system, since the failure to create such connections could lead to another 30 years of programs that yield, at best, little or short-term benefit.

In addition, attendees were concerned about the implications of Walker's proposed model on program professionals and practitioners.  Some feared that if programs were expected to produce only small, short-term benefits, then programs would no longer be held accountable for participants' overall progress.  Walker responded that it is possible to develop a sense of connectedness while encouraging outcomes.  This type of system simply recognizes that no single program will have a complete and long-term impact on a young person.  However, specific gains should be expected, and benchmarks can be used to promote accountability.

This Brief is based on an American Youth Policy Forum held on September 13, 1996, on Capitol Hill.  Reported by Vincent Spera.