Current Research Projects

National Research Collaborations

High/Scope Youth Program Quality Initiative

Minnesota collaboration with the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation’s nationally based youth program quality improvement study. This study is designed to explore the quality of out of school time experiences for youth at the point of contact with service provider(s). A two year intervention designed to improve the consistency of quality in youth serving programs being tested in multiple states.

• Minnesota has modified this study to add an assessment of an additional quality improvement program, Quality Matters, developed by the Youth Work Institute.
• A Minnesota 4-H program staff team has randomly selected and engaged ten 4-H clubs from a five county area in the H/S Study to explore the quality of clubs as a distinct program delivery model.

Exploring Supply and Demand of Out of School Time — Gaps Analysis Study

What is known about the quantity, availability and impact of out of school opportunities for Minnesota young people? Minnesota survey modeled after the national All Work and No Play? What Kids and Parents Really Want from Out- of- School Time

• Telephone survey designed to explore perceptions about out of school time opportunities for youth in 6-12th grade and their parents about out of school time opportunities.
• Literature review detailing currently available findings about Out of School Time supply and demand.
• Quantitative data analysis of three existing Minnesota longitudinal youth datasets assessing availability of OST supply and demand data.

National Longitudinal 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development

What can be learned about positive youth development? Minnesota is participating in a national longitudinal study of youth with varying levels of involvement in community-based programs, such as 4-H clubs, Boys and Girls’ Clubs, YM/YWCA and Scouting. The goal is to identify positive behaviors in young people that protect them from problem behaviors. This is the fifth year of data collection for the project. See the report from the first four years of the study: The Positive Development of Youth.

Developing Projects

Indicator Study

What are key developmental indicators of positive youth development during the middle and high school years that can serve as benchmarks for shaping out of school time programs and monitoring critical steps in the developmental journey of young people? Collaboration with state and national youth stakeholders to create a consistent means to track OST’s developmental benefits for youth.

After School On-Line Survey

Collaboration with the National 4-H Council which is interested in national dissemination of: A research-based Pre and Post evaluation tool developed by R and E for use by OST program providers to self assess program outcomes for youth participants. Survey utilizes National Science Foundation and the literature base in Out of School Time program Evaluation as basis for measurement criteria.