Extension > Youth Development > Events >Engaging Older Youth
Engaging older youth in out-of-school time: Applying research to practice
Priscilla M. Little
Research and evaluation consultant
March 11, 2011
This presentation describes promising research-based practices in working with middle and high school youth in out-of-school time (OST) programs, examining what programs can do to support participation, engagement, and positive outcomes. Given the recent growth of city-and state-level OST systems, the presentation also includes a discussion of the potential role of OST systems in supporting effective youth programming.
Download the presentation slides.
Selected research:
Outcomes for older youth
- Promoting healthy lifestyles: The impact of Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Triple Play Program on healthy eating, exercise patterns, and developmental outcomes (Executive Summary).
- The Beacon Community Centers Middle School Initiative: Report on implementation and youth experience in the initiative’s second year.
- After-school programs and academic impact: A study of Chicago’s After School Matters.
- Establishing a foundation for program toward high school graduation: Findings from Phase V of the Citizen Schools Evaluation. 2009. Washington, DC: Policy Studies Associates.
Program practices and structures
- Engaging Older Youth: Program and City-Level Strategies to Support Sustained Participation in Out-of-School Time. 2010. Harvard Family Research Project with Public/Private Ventures.
- Negotiating Among Opportunity and Constraint: The Participation of Young People in Out-of-School time Activities.
- Evaluation of the Beacon Community Centers Middle School Initiative.
- Quality Time After School: What Instructors can do to Enhance Learning.
- More time for teens: Understanding teen participation—frequency, intensity and duration—in Boys & Girls Clubs.
- Improving quality at the point of service. New Directions for Youth Development 112, 93-108.
OST systems
- A Place to Grow and Learn.
- Engaging Older Youth: Program and City-Level Strategies to Support Sustained Participation in Out-of-School Time.
