Forum Flash: March 15, 2007 | The Forum for Youth Investment

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March 15, 2007

In This Issue

Intern with the Forum!

Want to Contribute to Research on Thriving Youth?

Measuring Youth Program Quality

Building Quality Improvement Systems

Ready by 21 Change Makers in Action Series

New Project Launched to Increase Youth Participation in Out-of-School Time

Intern with the Forum!

The Forum seeks a motivated graduate student to work as a Youth Policy Intern, primarily on state youth policy, supporting the Forum's efforts with state policy makers and advocates. Learn more

The Forum seeks a highly motivated Communications/ Production Intern with an interest in communications and Web technologies to organize, produce and electronically post documents and other resources. Learn more

The Forum seeks a highly motivated Online Advocacy Intern with an interest in online organizing and Internet technology, to assist in running the Youth Policy Action Center and Connect for Kids. Learn more

Want to Contribute to Research on Thriving Youth?

The Search Institute is seeking a school site to field test its Thriving Youth Survey which measures personal power, confidence, stability, growth, and motivation, among other thriving indicators. The school site will be asked to administer the survey to between 1,000 and 1,500 youth in grades 6 through 12. Learn more

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Dear Forum Flash Reader,

With the after-school and youth development fields expanding and maturing, program quality has emerged as a central theme. This interest in program quality is shared by practitioners, policy makers and researchers in the youth-serving sector. As a result of this growing interest and direct requests about how to assess and improve quality, we are releasing two new reports in this issue of Forum Flash. We're also sharing the first four case studies in our Ready by 21™ Change Makers in Action Series. This series profiles the use of Ready by 21™ in communities across the country. Below, we also provide opportunities to participate in research on thriving youth, spread the word about opportunities to intern with the Forum, and learn more about an exciting new initiative to increase youth engagement and participation in out-of-school time.

Measuring Youth Program Quality: A New Report from the Forum

Thanks to growing interest in the subject of youth program quality, many tools are now available to help organizations and systems assess and improve quality. Given the size and diversity of the youth-serving sector, it is unrealistic to expect that any one tool or process will fit all programs or circumstances. This report compares the purpose, history, structure, methodology, content and technical properties of nine different program observation tools. Read the report

Building Quality Improvement Systems: A New Report from the Forum

Quality is fast becoming a policy priority in states and localities around the country. As a result, formal and informal networks of youth organizations are seeking and developing strategies to help them assess and improve performance. This report takes a close look at efforts underway in three networks and provides a preliminary framework for thinking about key questions when planning any kind of program quality improvement work in the youth-serving sector. Read the report

Ready by 21 Change Makers in Action Series

The Forum recently completed the first four case studies in this series, illustrating how the Ready by 21™ framework, tools and technical assistance can be used to improve communities for young people. These case studies feature Ready by 21™ in Iowa, Georgetown Divide (California), Bartholomew County/Columbus (Indiana) and Los Angeles (California). Read the case studies

New Project Launched to Increase Youth Participation in Out-of-School Time

The Fund for the City of New York is launching the Beacons Young Adolescent Initiative, a four-year national project to improve outcomes for young adolescents through increased participation in out-of-school time. Using a laboratory approach in 10 Beacon sites in New York City and San Francisco, BYA is building the knowledge and capacity of organizations to effectively serve young adolescents through sharing promising practices and strengthening the supports, funding and policies for this age group nationally. Read more

Sincerely,

Karen Pittman
The Forum for Youth Investment

Publishing Date:

March 15, 2007