BackHome
Refresh: OffView Personal Schedule
Individual Submission Summary
Share...

Direct link:

Assessing Effective Out-of-School-Time Programs: Development of a Measure for the “Big Three” Features of PYD Programs

Thu, March 21, 9:30 to 11:00am, Baltimore Convention Center, Floor: Level 3, Room 330

Integrative Statement

Given the ubiquity of out-of-school-time (OST) programs for youth across the world (e.g., Vandell et al., 2015; YouthPower Learning, 2017), several scholars have discussed the key attributes that these programs need to possess in order to effectively promote positive youth development (PYD) (e.g., Blum, 2003; Eccles & Gootman, 2002; Roth & Brooks-Gunn, 2003). In reviewing these discussions based on OST programs in the U.S., Lerner (2004) identified three characteristics of effective youth development programs, which he termed the “Big Three.” That is, when a program is delivered in a safe space, effective youth development programs involve: 1. Positive and sustained adult-youth relationships between a young person and an adult (such as a mentor, coach, or teacher) who is competent, caring, and continually available for at least one year; 2. Life-skill building activities (e.g., activities that enhance skills pertinent to selecting and optimizing goals or compensating effectively when goals are blocked); and 3. Opportunities for youth participation in and leadership of valued family, school, and community activities. Indeed, these features of youth development programs appear on all lists of important program characteristics proposed by scholars studying OST programs and PYD. Lerner (2004) argued that the Big Three need to be simultaneously and integratively present for PYD to be effectively promoted within safe spaces.

Despite the recognized importance of such features for effective OST programs, no measure for assessing these characteristics exists. Accordingly, we present initial findings from a measure-development study for assessing effective youth development programs. We generated items for four purported constructs—that is, items assessing whether the program: 1. takes place in a safe space (five items); 2. involves positive and sustained adult-youth relationships (seven items); 3. promotes life-skill-building activities (10 items); and 4. offers opportunities for participation in and leadership of valued activities (seven items).

Using participants from the Compassion International (CI) Study of PYD (Tirrell et al., 2018), we piloted the measure with 600 youth enrolled in CI-supported programs in Rwanda, and 322 comparison youth not enrolled in CI but involved in other OST programs (N = 922, Mage = 11.84, SD = 1.67). We first conducted a series of confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) across CI-supported and non-CI-supported youth to refine the measure for parsimony and robustness (Duncan et al., 2014). Once a refined measurement model was identified, we tested for between-group measurement invariance (Card, 2017) across age (i.e., 9- to 11-year-olds and 12- to 15-year-olds); across gender (i.e., boys and girls); and across CI-enrollment status.

Invariance was established across all groups (age, gender, and CI status; see Table 1). Preliminary results suggested that youth enrolled in CI-supported programs reported higher levels of safety, mentorship, life-skill-building activities, and opportunities for contribution and leadership, as compared to non-CI-supported youth. No differences were found across gender or age. These analyses provide preliminary information about the usefulness of a measure assessing the Big Three. Pending peer review of our work, the development of such a measure will be useful for researchers and practitioners interested in promoting PYD in OST programs.

Authors