This dissertation consists of two chapters that examine the impact of educational and positive youth development programs on students' academic and behavioral outcomes. In the first chapter, I evaluate the effect of the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program, a school meal provision allowing schools meeting the eligibility requirements to provide free meals to all students. I empirically investigate the extent to which the program influences school meal participation and students' behavioral and academic outcomes using individual-level administrative data sets from Texas and a synthetic difference-in-differences strategy. I show that CEP increases per-student breakfast consumption by 10% and lunch consumption by 5% and improves reading and math test scores. However, most schools implementing CEP have another type of free meal provision before CEP, such as Universal Free Breakfast and Provision 2. I find that the presence of these substitute programs biases the effect of CEP. After accounting for such program substitution, implementing CEP increases per-student breakfast consumption by 40% and lunch consumption by 10%. In addition, I provide evidence for an improved suspension rate for students from schools that never implemented alternative free meal provisions. Overall, CEP generates smaller test score gains for the students in these schools. In the second chapter, I evaluate the impact of one of Texas's long-standing positive youth development programs. The Community Youth Development (CYD) program, created in 1995 and implemented at the zip code level, aims to prevent juvenile delinquency and improve school performance and engagement. In this study, I empirically investigate to what extent being eligible for the CYD program influences students' absence rate, suspension rate, and math and reading test scores using individual-level administrative data sets and employing matching and difference-in-differences empirical strategies. I find no significant evidence that being eligible for the CYD program positively impacts behavioral and academic outcomes. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]