the 4-h study of positive youth development: richard m. lerner, jacqueline v. lerner, erin phelps,...

THE 4-H STUDY OF POSITIVE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT:

Richard M. Lerner, Jacqueline V. Lerner, Erin Phelps, and Colleagues

Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development

Tufts University, Medford, MA

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Items for discussion:

• Site and participant recruitment• Training and support from Tufts• Financial support for participating counties• Timeline• Reporting• Needs? • <place where faculty and staff can access

materials>

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Site and Participant Recruitment

• Target age – 9-12th graders, focus on 12th graders

• 4-H and non-4-H youth• Partner who will work with you to secure

parent consent and administer the survey• Parent consent likely• On-line option is preferred• Can Tufts find them in a year?• YOUR IDEAS??

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Tufts Support

• Centra sessions for data collectors – <date>

• Toolkit of materials including: sample IRB forms, correspondence, news releases and other resources

• Phone and e-mail for questions

• Costs of producing the data collection materials can be reimbursed

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Money $$$$Pre-Study• <$ incentive from your state>• <location of form to fill out to receive money from state>Post-Study

• Thank-you gift from Tufts – Only for face-to-face data collection

– $30 gift credit with Amazon.com• Multi-year sites will be paid $50 by Tufts

– Only for 2nd year or beyond– Only for face-to-face settings– For any number of surveys submitted

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Data Collection Expenses

• Only available for face-to-face data collection:• Keep track of copies produced and request

reimbursement for the following:– # Student Questionnaires <40> pages @$.05 per page

– # Parent Consent Forms – 4 pages @ $.05 per page

– # Youth Assent Forms – 1 page @$.05 per page

– # Parent letters – 2 pages $.05 per page

– # Additional printing – itemize @ $.05 per page

• No postage expenses will be reimbursed by Tufts. • No other expenses will be reimbursed without prior

approval from Tufts.

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Timeline• Immediately – site recruitment, eIRB• Templates are ready: <location where

templates can be found>, or on the National 4-H Brand Network website

• By <established date> – letter of permission, set dates for administration, request needed materials

• By <established date> – complete administration and submit results

• Fall 2010 – <state> results

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Reporting

• Will set up statewide program with <coordinator> as Team Leader and data collectors as Team Members.

• Use Scheduling function to show planned sites/dates?

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Design of the 4-H Study

• This is a longitudinal study: Youth are followed across time

• Beginning in 5th Grade, we are following some youth through 12th Grade (and we hope past high school)

• To adjust for youth who drop out of the study and to maintain our ability to conduct powerful statistical analyses, we have added new students each year

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Design of the 4-H Study• We are longitudinally studying these new

students as well

• A minimum of three times of measurement are needed to judge developmental change. We are reporting for the first time the results from three times of testing

• Overall, we have sampled more than 6,000 youth from 37 states and more than 2,000 parents!

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Design of the 4-H Study• For comparative purposes, our sample

includes 4-H youth and non-4-H youth. These groups of youth differ in several ways

• To judge the differences between 4-H youth and other youth we need to create a matched subsample

• However, this limits our ability to apply the findings to all 4-H youth

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Key Principles of the PYD Perspective

1. Because of the potential to change, all youth have strengths.

2. All contexts have strengths as well. These strengths are resources that may be used to promote positive youth development.

3. These resources are termed “developmental assets”: They are the “social nutrients” needed for healthy development.

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Key Principles of the PYD Perspective

4. Strengths of youth are combined with ecological developmental assets. Then, these assets are found in families, schools, faith institutions, youth serving organizations, and the community more generally.

5. If the positive, healthy development may occur.

6. We may be optimistic that it is in our power to promote positive development among all youth.

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Three Key Hypotheses of the 4-H Study

Hypothesis 1. PYD is constituted by “Five Cs:”

The Five Cs• Competence• Confidence• Character• Caring• Connection

Contribution

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The Five Cs are Related to the “Four Essential Elements”*

The Cs of PYD The 4 Essential Elements

Competence MASTERY

Confidence INDEPENDENCE

Connection BELONGING

Character & GENEROSITYCaring

*As presented by Dr. Cathann Kress

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Three Key Hypotheses of the 4-H Study

Hypothesis 2.

Across adolescence, positive youth development occurs (that is, youth “thrive”)

when:

The strengths of young people are aligned with the resources for healthy development (“developmental assets”) present in their communities.

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Three Key Hypotheses of the 4-H Study

Hypothesis 3.

Youth Development (YD) programs constitute key developmental assets promoting PYD.

YD programs are marked by the presence of the “Big 3,” that is:

Sustained, positive adult-youth relations; Skill building activities;

and Youth participation and leadership.