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Youth Research


Youth Development Insight Center for Youth Development faculty & educators blog on issues in our field

  • Learning from Caine's Arcade: Programming free play

    By Rebecca L. Meyer - Wednesday, May 16, 2012

    Last month, I presented an online webinar titled, "Natural Spaces: A Place for Positive Youth Development." In it, I talked about four research-based design principles that I believe can improve the ways that our programs connect youth with nature: 1. Situate programs in youths' favorite outdoor spaces 2. Integrate more free play 3. Plan developmentally appropriate environmental learning activities, and 4. Use nature design principles...

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  • Do you dare to be coached?

    By Jessica Pierson Russo, M.Ed. - Wednesday, May 09, 2012

    In my experience, most youth work professionals are constantly scrutinizing their own work. But how willing are we to allow others to do so? Could coaching be a key to developing satisfaction for professionals in our field? In a recent report, Dana Fusco explores "the tension between a trial-by-fire approach to training [of youth work professionals] versus the overtraining that can lead to the 'anesthesia of the expert' or the loss of the 'heart.'" She concludes that knowledge and knowing are positioned "not as end products but as processes within the learning journey that require ongoing visitation."...

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Featured research, publications & events

Our research

The backbone of positive youth development programs is research. The Extension Center for Youth Development conducts and shares out-of-school time research and evaluation with policy makers, stakeholders, program leaders, youth work practitioners, decision makers and researchers to address important issues related to the field of youth development.

We deliver:

  • Original research of our own and in partnership with others
  • Evaluation studies to measuring effectiveness and outcomes
  • Public symposia on youth development research and ideas
  • Networking opportunities with youth development stakeholders in Minnesota, the United States and around the world

Related websites

Next Generation Youth Work Coalition
A national organization that brings together individuals and organizations dedicated to developing a strong, diverse after-school and youth-development workforce that is stable, prepared, supported and committed to the well being and empowerment of children and youth.

Youth Community Connections
Minnesota's statewide afterschool alliance of organizations that offer and support youth development opportunities.

Harvard Family Research Project
Research on more effective youth development practices, programs, and policies.

Minnesota Compass
Tracks data and trends that affect Minnesotans, including youth.

Tufts University Institute for Applied Research on Youth Development
Aims to be a center of excellence for the conduct and dissemination of top-tier scholarship and for the education and professional development of graduate and undergraduate students interested in enhancing the lives of diverse children, families, and communities.


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