Training programs and implementation process of positive youth development programs

Click here to share. Positive Youth Development. National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Resource: Interactive e-learning Tool for Strengths Conversations. Resource: Supporting Decision Making Recording.

Partnership for Results. Promise Neighborhoods. Youth ChalleNGe Program. Youth M. Departments 4-H Military Partnerships.

Department of Health and Human Services. Adventure Central. Call for Nominations: Youth Listening Session. How much do you know about…4-H and Positive Youth Development? Just Launched! Redesigned YE4C.

National Youth Listening Tour. Reports and Recommendations for Core Components. Youth Engaged 4 Change. Programs 21st Century Community Learning Centers. Administration for Native Americans. Children, Youth, and Families at Risk.

Family and Youth Services Bureau. Federal Youth Court Program. National 4-H Headquarters. National Guard Youth Challenge Program. Neighborhood Networks. Multiple regression analyses were further performed, in which program adherence and implementation process were entered as predictors, and implementation quality and implementation success as two separate dependent variables. Table 4 shows the results for the prediction of implementation quality. Table 5 shows the results of the prediction of implementation success.

The effect size is 2. Intercorrelations among program adherence, implementation process, implementation quality, and implementation success. Bonferroni correction was used to evaluate the significance of the correlations. This study attempts to integrate the process evaluation findings based on multiple studies via secondary data analyses. There are several unique features of this study. First, a large number of teaching units and schools was evaluated. Second, two observers who were independent raters conducted the assessment.

Third, a structured and reliable measure of program implementation was used. Fourth, inter-rater reliability analyses showed that the observations were basically reliable.

Finally, this is the first large-scale process evaluation of positive youth development programs in the Chinese context. Despite the discrepancy in the ratings of program adherence on different units, the overall degree of adherence to the program is on the high side.

This observation is generally consistent with previous findings generated from separate process evaluation studies conducted by observers [ 55 , 56 ] and subjective outcome evaluations reported by the program implementers [ 54 ]. Most program content is well designed for implementation. This can be attributed to the fact that all program materials have gone through trial teaching. They have already been revised and refined according to prior teaching experience. Thus, program implementers may not have great difficulty in following the teaching plans.

These findings dispute the common myth that curriculum-based positive youth development programs cannot be used easily and require major adaptations or modifications.

The findings on program adherence are very encouraging because program adherence is generally low in the international context. In a meta-analysis of evaluation studies of primary and early secondary prevention programs published between and , Dane and Schneider [ 2 ] showed that only 39 out of evaluation studies documented procedures of fidelity.

O'Connor et al. Obviously, program adherence coupled with the effective use of the self, and good interaction between implementers and students, can be more difficult than expected. This requires intensive training and personal reflexivity on the part of the social worker. The present study found that different aspects of the program delivery were perceived to be positive, highlighting the fact that the Tier 1 Program of the Project P. Moreover, the implementation was regarded as successful by the observers, although relatively low average ratings were reported on time management and reflective learning.

These findings are similar to those based on the Experimental Implementation Phase [ 55 , 56 ]. There are two possible explanations for the low ratings. First, due to the usual didactic teaching style in Hong Kong, students are not accustomed to reflecting on their everyday life practice in classroom settings. Hence, the students cannot easily shift their learning modes from one-way knowledge dissemination to reflective learning.

Second, the overpacking of the curriculum may have prevented the students from carrying out reflections on their learning. Overpacking could have also contributed to the unsatisfactory rating of time management. The current study also found that program adherence and implementation process are closely associated with implementation quality and success. For positive youth programs, an interactive program delivery is the key milestone for program quality and success [ 57 ]. This explains the high correlations among these factors.

Furthermore, implementation process and program adherence were found to predict implementation quality or success. Theoretically, both process and content are critical to program quality and success. All these findings suggested that the need for modifying the units in the implementation process was not high.

Again, these findings could be used to challenge the common myth that curricula-based positive youth development programs cannot be easily used in reality and major modifications must be made for different adolescent populations. This demystification provides an evidence-based justification for following the manuals in an authentic manner. Findings of the present study have two implications. The first implication is on the conceptual level. When we are concerned about program implementation regardless of external environment i.

These variables are all related to implementation quality or success. The present findings provide conceptual insights for understanding program quality or success. The second implication is on a practical level. The process variables covered in the study can actually be used in other social work or health science contexts, especially in educational and developmental groups. All these measures are important for positive youth programs and should be brought to the fore in the training.

Youth workers, social workers, and teachers should be aware that implementation process is critical for classroom-based psychosocial intervention programs. This study has several limitations.

First, only 62 randomly selected schools participated in this study. Although the number of schools can be regarded as respectable, inclusion of more schools with diverse backgrounds would be helpful.

Second, process evaluation with reference to macro-level implication, dosage issues [ 62 ], and school characteristics can help program developers to understand the quality of the program implementation process further. Third, the observation may have a confounding effect. Students may be more cooperative when there are visitors or outside observers because the students do not want to ruin the reputation of their schools.

Fourth, consistent with the intrinsic problem of all observation studies where time sampling is involved, one needs to be conscious of the degree of generalizability of the present findings to other temporal and spatial contexts. Despite these limitations, the current process evaluation findings suggest that the quality of implementation of the Tier 1 Program of the Project P.

The preparation for this paper and the Project P. National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. Journal List ScientificWorldJournal v. Published online May Retraction in: ScientificWorldJournal. Ben M. Daniel T. Author information Article notes Copyright and License information Disclaimer. Law: kh. Received Nov 6; Accepted Dec Law and D. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

This article has been retracted. See ScientificWorldJournal. This article has been cited by other articles in PMC. Abstract There are only a few process evaluation studies on positive youth development programs, particularly in the Chinese context. Introduction Program evaluation is systematic assessment of the process and outcomes of a program with the aim of contributing to program improvement, such as deciding whether to adopt the program further, enhancement of existing intervention protocols, and compliance with a set of explicit or implicit standards [ 1 ].

Method 2. Participants and Procedure From to , the total number of schools that participated in the Project P. Table 1 Descriptive profile of participating schools from to Open in a separate window. Instruments Program Adherence — Observers were requested to rate program adherence in terms of percentage i.

Implementation Process Checklist IPC — Observers were requested to report their observations using a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 extremely negative to 7 extremely positive on the items. Process Outcomes — Two items were used to evaluate the process outcome: implementation quality and implementation success. Results As the interrater reliabilities of the scores across all units were high, the ratings of each item by the two observers were averaged to form a combined indicator.

Table 2 Descriptive statistics of evaluation Items. Table 3 Intercorrelations among program adherence, implementation process, implementation quality, and implementation success. Measure 1 2 3 4 1 Implementation process — 0. Table 4 Regression table of implementation quality. Table 5 Regression table of implementation success. Discussion This study attempts to integrate the process evaluation findings based on multiple studies via secondary data analyses.

Acknowledgments The preparation for this paper and the Project P. References 1. Evaluating computer-based assessment in a risk-based model.

Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education. Program integrity in primary and early secondary prevention: are implementation effects out of control? Clinical Psychology Review. The study of implementation: current findings from effective programs that prevent mental disorders in school-aged children.

Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation. Huryk LA. Journal of Nursing Management. Development, theoretical framework, and lessons learned from implementation of a school-based influenza vacation intervention. Health Promotion Practice. Feasibility of a mental practice intervention in stroke patients in nursing homes: a process evaluation. BMC Neurology. Development of the volunteer peer educator role in a community cardiovascular health awareness program CHAP : a process evaluation in two communities.

Youth leaders also show considerable benefits for their communities, providing valuable insight into the needs and interests of young people. Nearly 30, youth aged out of foster care in Fiscal Year , which represents nine percent of the young people involved in the foster care system that year. This transition can be challenging for youth, especially youth who have grown up in the child welfare system.

Read about how coordination between public service agencies can improve treatment for these youth. Civic engagement has the potential to empower young adults, increase their self-determination, and give them the skills and self-confidence they need to enter the workforce.

We need your ideas! Click here to share. Effectiveness of Positive Youth Development Programs. For example: A comprehensive study that looked at more than school-based social-emotional learning programs found that program participants showed significant improvement in social and emotional skills, attitudes, and academic performance and reductions in internalizing symptoms and risky behaviors.

The authors suggest that these programs serve as models for the development of future PYD programs for adolescents with chronic disease.

Program effects were moderate and well-sustained. Effective programs were significantly more likely than those that did not have an impact to strengthen the school context and to deliver activities in a supportive atmosphere. The study sample included approximately 4, youth, from nearly all 50 states, with various levels of involvement and concluded that youth consistently engaged in 4-H were found to be at much lower risk of having personal, social, and behavioral problems than other youth.

Compared to their peers, the findings show that youth involved in 4-H programs excel in several areas: Youth involved in 4-H are more than four times as likely to contribute to their communities as other youth and about two times as likely to be civically active.

Youth involved in 4-H programming are nearly two times more likely to participate in science, engineering and computer technology programs during out-of-school time in Grades 10— Girls involved in 4-H programming are two times more likely Grade 10 and nearly three times more likely Grade 12 to take part in science programs compared to girls in other out-of-school activities. Youth involved in 4-H are nearly two times more likely to make healthier choices in Grade 7.

A systematic literature review identified 15 PYD programs with evidence of promoting adolescent sexual and reproductive health outcomes, including the prevention of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. The level and duration of the impact on reproductive health outcomes were substantial, with the impact of several programs extending into adulthood.

Mentoring can be advantageous to both preventive and promotive program goals, while also supporting the involvement of positive adult role models, older peers, and supportive group settings. Resources The Guide to Community Preventive Services This website presents the results of intensive reviews that help determine which program and policy interventions have been proven effective. References 1 Alberts, et al. National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Resource: Interactive e-learning Tool for Strengths Conversations. Resource: Supporting Decision Making Recording. Partnership for Results.

Promise Neighborhoods. Youth ChalleNGe Program. Youth M. Departments 4-H Military Partnerships. Department of Health and Human Services. Adventure Central.