The Impact of Adding Paid Internships to a Summer Literacy Program for Disconnected Youth

• In Event: Roundtable Session 110
  In Roundtable Session: Assessing Impact of Literacy Interventions on Student Outcomes in a Variety of Settings

Abstract

The Young Adult Literacy (YAL) program seeks to improve the literacy and math skills of disconnected youth in New York City (NYC). The program is one of the few in NYC that specifically addresses the literacy needs of young adults who read at the pre-GED level. This study presents the findings from an mixed-method experimental evaluation of a summer internship program that was added to the YAL literacy model to determine how it would impact attendance and educational outcomes. Findings indicate that the addition of the internship component significantly impacted participants’ math achievement and classroom attendance however, the internship did not impact literacy achievement. Implications of adding internships to increase participant achievement and engagement in academic instruction will be discussed.

Author

• Allison D'Amour Meisch, Westat