This paper explores how youth programs, particularly programs that try to prepare young people for the world of work and higher education, are organized and implemented in the field. It is argued that, in many cases, the needs of program practitioners are overlooked by the research community. The focus is on the field of "second-chance"…

The Federal Government has sponsored job training for the unemployed and economically disadvantaged for more than three decades. The National Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) study is the first evaluation of a major ongoing national program that uses a random assignment experimental design in which only program experience divides participants…

The Children-at-Risk program (CAR), a drug and delinquency prevention program, targets high-risk adolescents aged 11 to 13 who live in distressed neighborhoods. The program features integrated delivery of comprehensive services that are tailored to the community and involve close collaboration with other services providers. The Urban Institute is…

Findings from recent evaluations of welfare-to-work programs and child development research suggest that welfare reform can affect children in multiple ways. These studies focused on three welfare-to-work programs that differ from those that will be implemented under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996…

Some of the main issues surrounding the operation of mentoring programs for minority youth are outlined and illustrated through the example of the Male Youth Project, a church-based program in Washington, D.C. Screening, orienting, and rewarding mentors are aspects of program operation that are fundamental. Other issues include the youth to mentor…

Evaluation activities conducted by the Hawaii State Department of Education in the Honolulu School District are described. These activities met all the requirements of the Title I Evaluation and Reporting System (TIERS). The Comprehensive Language Improvement Program (CLIP) was implemented to assist disadvantaged children. CLIP had four components…

This document reviews the range of findings contained in 10 recently commissioned reports on how Chapter 1 programs are implemented and how successful they are in increasing the achievement of disadvantaged students. Although the conclusions of the reports are not the same, there are some developing consensuses. Findings are discussed in the…

This paper reviews ten years of evaluation efforts by the sponsors of Follow Through programs, maintaining that sponsors' evaluations provide a different, equally valuable perspective to the one provided by the national evaluations of Follow Through. Sponsors were persons or groups that developed educational models for Follow Through and enacted…

The Urban 4-H Program involved low income, inner city youth in two of the State's largest cities. The project background is described. Data bearing on the program planning process and attempts to ascertain the nature, source, and extent of influences affecting that process is analyzed. Urban 4-H Program participants are compared on several…

This document provides a copy of the materials submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to obtain clearance for instruments used in a study funded by the Administration for Children, Youth and Families. The purpose of the study is to assess the impact of the educational services component of Head Start and the Basic Educational…

The overall purpose of the national Head Start evaluation is to assess the impact, on the children and parents being served, of: (1) the educational services component of Head Start, and (2) a new demonstration program within Head Start, Basic Educational Skills (BES). The evaluation deals with a total of 65 Head Start programs and their families.…

Project Citywork was a demonstration project to provide employment for disadvantaged youth, and at the same time to determine which kinds of programs tend to work, and which do not. The program included work experience in nonprofit agencies; on-the-job training in the private sector; supportive services including counseling and classroom training,…

This booklet presents evaluation and audit systems developed to monitor and evaluate student/program success as part of a project designed to improve program and services for disadvantaged and handicapped vocational students at Fresno City College, California. The booklet is divided into the following sections: procedures for implementing and…

The final report evaluates residential treatment programs and in particular the Sage Hill Program for economically disadvantaged and disturbed teen-age boys. Evaluative studies are reviewed with regard to their substantive findings and methodological issues. It is explained that change sensitive measures, such as The Daily Behavior Rating Scale…

This final program evaluation report assessing the University of Western Ontario Preschool Project examined the cognitive and social development of 60 high and low income preschool children to determine whether the program had had a compensatory educational effect on economically disadvantaged children. The data analysis focused on: (1) the…