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This report presents findings regarding design and implementation of school-to-work (STW) efforts in Job Corps Model Centers. Following an introduction, Chapter two argues that Jobs Corps constitutes a natural context for implementing STW systems because its traditional practices to some degree provide a solid foundation on which to lay STW principles. Chapter three addresses these two keys to implementing STW in the Job Corps context: need for a clearly articulated vision and consistency with the vision in the larger STW context. Chapter four examines the model centers' efforts to build the organizational structure necessary to implement STW reforms. Chapter five discusses how school-based learning (SBL) evolved and examines STW's effect on structure and content of classroom training and the model centers' success in integrating classroom training to replicate STW best practice methods. Chapter six addresses the model centers' implementation of work-based learning principles and practices, implementation challenges, and effective practices and implementation strategies. Chapter seven discusses areas related to connecting activities: strategies to connect worksite and SBL; staff development and training; linkages for the post-program period; and STW stakeholders and their roles. Chapter eight explores evolution and sustainability of STW efforts at the model centers. Chapter nine highlights challenges model centers faced in sustaining a dynamic, evolving STW initiative. Appendixes contain 30 project profiles and 21-item bibliography. (YLB)

Short-term and 1-year effects of the Learn and Serve America program were examined in an evaluation of programs at 17 middle schools and high schools nationwide. The following four data sources were among those analyzed: survey responses and school records of approximately 1,000 Learn and Serve program participants and comparison group members; surveys of teachers at the 17 schools; telephone interviews with staff at participating community agencies; and on-site interviews and observation of program activities. Together, students at the 17 sites participated in more than 300 projects each semester and provided more than 150,000 hours of service during the program year. Although the Learn and Serve programs had a positive short-term effect on participants' civic attitudes and involvement in volunteer service at the end of the program year, they showed little evidence of longer-term impacts at the 1-year follow-up. The effects of service learning on academic performance were significantly greater among nonwhite and educationally disadvantaged participants. Despite strong administrator and teacher support for the program, few sites engaged in organized efforts to expand the use of service learning at either the school or school district levels. On average, program participants produced services valued at nearly four times the program's costs. (MN)

The impact of the Conservation and Youth Services Corps on communities and program participants was evaluated by studying eight corps programs, which were located in the following areas: Washington State; New York City; Greater Miami, Florida; Santa Clara, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Camden County, New Jersey; Baltimore, Maryland; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Collectively, the 8 programs enrolled 2,382 participants (14% of all participants funded by the Commission on National and Community Service during the study period). Information collected through site visits and surveys of participants, sponsoring/host agencies, and service beneficiaries was used to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of the programs and estimate their impacts on participants and the community. The programs' overall net monetary benefit to participants was estimated at $4.03 per service hour, whereas the net costs to the rest of society were estimated at $2.99 per service hour. Nearly 80% of program sponsors rated the quality of services provided by participants as good or excellent, and 69% of the program beneficiaries (including students, disadvantaged populations, senior citizens, and disabled individuals) rated the quality of work performed as good, very good, or excellent. The corps programs were found to have generally positive, albeit somewhat limited, impacts on program participants. (Fifteen tables/figures are included.) (MN)

Serve-America is a national program that was established under the 1990 National and Community Service Act to involve young people in community service and thereby build their understanding of their communities, sense of social responsibility, and commitment to community involvement. In 1992, a 3-year evaluation of Serve-America was initiated to determine its effects on participants, benefits, and cost-effectiveness. The evaluation included observations, document reviews, and participant and control group surveys at 13 local Serve-America program sites. The evaluation established that, as of 1993-94, approximately 434,000 school-aged youths and 90,000 nonparticipant volunteers were participating in Serve-America programs. Serve-America was having positive effects on middle school and high school students and had created new service opportunities in 12 of the 13 intensive study sites. The Serve-America sites studied were producing approximately $3 in direct community benefits for every $1 in program costs. (Thirty tables/figures are included. Appendixes constituting approximately 50% of this document contain the following items: overview of the national evaluation; research and policy background of Serve-America; analysis sample and impact estimation method; definitions of scales and other outcome measures; baseline characteristics of participant and comparison group sample members; Subtitle B1 subgroup analysis; and baseline and follow-up surveys.) (MN)

The Quantum Opportunities Program (QOP) is an innovative 4-year year-round pilot program that provides learning opportunities, development opportunities, service opportunities, and summer jobs to small groups of youth from families receiving public assistance. In 1994, the Ford Foundation commissioned an evaluation of the QOP. Between 1989 and 1993, 100 disadvantaged minority teenagers joined QOP at 5 different sites, in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), Oklahoma City (Oklahoma), Saginaw (Michigan), San Antonio (Texas), and Milwaukee (Wisconsin). QOP differed from most youth job training programs in that it provided youngsters with adult mentors who stayed with them over the 4 years. Compared to a random sample of peers not enrolled in QOP, participants improved their basic skills, and were more likely to graduate from high school, and go on to postsecondary school or college. They were also less likely than their peers to have babies or become unemployed. A major finding from the QOP evaluation is that youth will stick with a program if the adult mentors stick with them. Many factors contributed to the success of QOP, including small groups of participants per site, a community-based, case management approach, and the early age at which the program is initiated, typically 14 or 15. Multiple dimensions, including financial incentives for hourly work, contributed to program success. A cost-benefit analysis suggests that, for every dollar spent, $3.68 is gained in public benefit, assuming that college students finish their educations. QOP shows that something can be done for these disadvantaged students, and that opportunity and community matter. Community-based organizations are able to manage a complex program of this nature, although adequate funding is a necessity. (Contains 10 references.) (SLD)

This volume, first in a series, contains a literature review of the college access field, as well as case studies and lessons for community leaders interested in designing or reforming college access programs. The college access field contains many well thought out programs that are widely believed to be effective in helping minority and low-income youth overcome barriers in their efforts to get to college. For the most part, these beliefs have not been based on the kind of social science evaluation techniques usually believed necessary to demonstrate program effectiveness. Conduct of a sophisticated analysis of CollegeBound (Baltimore, Maryland) operations and outcomes, site visits and analyses of six urban college access programs, and a review of the literature on college access programs leads to three basic conclusions. The Baltimore CollegeBound program evaluation provides the best empirical evidence that a college access program can have a demonstrable impact on college attendance for some types of students at some types of programs. A second conclusion is that, to be successful, a college access program must reflect the existing realities and relationships within school systems and between school systems and communities. It is therefore both inappropriate and misleading to look for one best way to design and carry out college access activities or to rank order programs. A third conclusion is that in the Baltimore CollegeBound program the benefits far outweigh program costs. Findings from this report are used to make specific recommendations to the Baltimore program, and recommendations for college access programs in other cities that center on improved cooperation, access to information, networking, and research to improve these programs through a variety of approaches. (SLD)

The Quantum Opportunities Project (QOP) was a multisite youth development demonstration project funded by the Ford Foundation in San Antonio (Texas), Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), Milwaukee (Wisconsin), Saginaw (Michigan), and Oklahoma City (Oklahoma). The programs, organized around educational activities, guaranteed up to 250 hours of education, 250 hours of development activities, and 250 hours of service each full year from the ninth grade through high school for in-school youth or youth who had dropped out or left their original schools or neighborhoods. Students received hourly stipends between $1 and $1.33 with eventual bonuses. Twenty-five youths were enrolled in each program. Program evaluation undertaken by Brandeis University's Center for Human Resource included respondent surveys and subgroup comparisons for four sites, excluding Milwaukee, where data were not complete. Analysis indicates that QOP members, when compared to control groups, were more likely to graduate from high school, more likely to enroll in college, less likely to drop out, more likely to have received awards, and less likely to have children. Although QOP members were not immune from the many hazards of inner city life, the benefits of the program were made apparent by the evaluation. Seventeen figures, 16 tables, and newspaper clippings illustrate the discussion at the end of the document. (SLD)

A brief history of business/education partnership development (BEPD), using the development of the Boston Compact in 1975 as an illustrative case study, highlights several points: partnerships embrace diverse territory and goals; a partnership is a process, not an event; a partnership is a relationship between institutions and people within those institutions; and the goals and form of a partnership change and evolve. Benefits of partnerships are considered in terms of gains for business, education, higher education, parents and students, and the community. Three typologies of BEPD are presented: (1) levels of involvement (incorporating three stages--support, cooperation, and collaboration); (2) partnership structure (simple, moderately complex, and complex); and (3) levels of impact (containing six categories--partners in special services, partners in the classroom, partners in teacher training and development, partners in management, partners in systemic educational improvement, and partners in policy). The first two typologies illustrate the relationship between partners and the structure of these relations, respectively. The third model focuses on goals and emphasizes the partnership's impact on the educational system, and is therefore considered the most useful of the three typologies. The six levels of impact categorized in the third typology serve as the framework for presenting numerous specific examples of partnerships corresponding to each level; this is followed by a section in which the following more generic elements of successful educational partnerships are outlined: top level leadership; grounding in community needs; effective public relations; clear roles and responsibilities; racial/ethnic involvement; strategic planning; effective management and staffing structure; shared decision-making/interagency ownership; shared credit/recognition; appropriate well-timed resources; technical assistance; formal agreements; action and frequent success; patience, vigilance, and increased involvement; and local ownership. A brief discussion of outcome measures and evaluations of the six types of partnerships conclude the paper. Endnotes and references are included, and a list of contacts for major partnerships discussed in this paper is appended. (RLC)

A growing body of scientific evidence demonstrates that emotional development begins early in life and is closely connected with the emergence of cognitive, language and social skills. Early emotional development lays the foundation for later academic performance, mental health, and the capacity to form successful relationships. Despite this knowledge, most policies related to early childhood focus exclusively on cognitive development as it relates to school readiness, neglecting the importance of such capacities as the ability to regulate one's own emotions and behavior and to manage successful interactions with other people. As a result, many of our nation's policies, such as those that regulate child care provider training, availability of early childhood mental health services, and early identification and treatment of behavioral disorders, overlook emotional development as a focus of evaluation and intervention. This report presents an overview of the scientific research on how a child's capacity to regulate emotions develops in a complex interaction with his or her environment and ongoing cognitive, motor, and social development. It then discusses the implications of this research for policies affecting young children, their caregivers, and service providers. [This report was published by the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child.]

Despite the importance of breakfast, summer, and after-school child nutrition programs, coverage in these programs in Massachusetts is low. This report describes the barriers facing the states School Breakfast, Summer Food Service, and After-School Snack Programs and suggests many innovative solutions and resources that program sponsors can use to overcome these barriers and boost enrollment. The five barriers examined individually are: (1) program appeal and visibility; (2) costs and funding; (3) transportation; (4) program stigma; and (5) administrative burdens. Within each section are examples of how other programs have encountered similar barriers and implemented one of the highlighted solutions to overcome the barriers. The "best practice" case models show how programs can overcome barriers and improve program coverage of at-risk youth. The report asserts that although the barriers represent a serious threat to the success of federal child nutrition programs and to the health and educational readiness of Massachusetts children, solutions are available to sponsors to overcome these barriers. A list of resources for sponsors of breakfast, summer, and after-school nutrition programs includes state and national organizations, government agencies, and Internet sites. The report's four appendices contain information about the Child Nutrition Programs, a sample Frequently Asked Questions sheet, a Universal Free Breakfast Fact Sheet, and a summary of the provisions of policy memos from the USDA regarding the Summer Food Service Program. (KB)

Asserting that 13 million U.S. children live in households with limited or uncertain access to sufficient food, this report highlights recent findings showing the adverse consequences of hunger and food insecurity for children. The findings are grouped into three broad areas: health consequences, psychosocial and behavioral impacts, and learning and academic outcomes. A section on the relationship between food insecurity and obesity is also included. Among the findings it is noted that such children are sick more often, much more likely to have ear infections, have higher rates of iron deficiency anemia, and are hospitalized more frequently than children in other households. As a result, they miss more days of school and are less prepared to learn when they are able to attend. They are also more likely to have poorer mental health, be withdrawn or socially disruptive, and suffer greater rates of behavioral disorders. (Contains 21 references.) (EV)

In order to test the effects of financial subsidies on employment for disadvantaged youth, two experimental situations were set up: (1) a worker subsidy operating in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and (2) an employer subsidy operating in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The first project, the Cambridge Job Factory Voucher Experiment, tested a voucher payment directly to youth combined with a job search assistance program. In order to separate the effects of these two treatments, two experimental groups (full-treatment and voucher only) and a control group were used. The second project, the Wilkes-Barre Job Search Voucher Experiment, tested the impact of making wage vouchers or tax subsidies available to employers hiring disadvantaged youth. To distinguish the new experimental vouchers from the Target Job Tax Credit (TJTC) already available to firms hiring 18-24 year olds, the new voucher was given only to firms hiring 16-17 year olds. The experimental design was set up in such a way that the new voucher could be compared with TJTC. The findings from the study suggest that employee wage subsidies do raise the employment prospects of disadvantaged youth. Wage subsidies paid directly to youth are more effective than wage subsidies combined with other services such as job search assistance. The study finds no evidence to support the policy of employer-based wage subsidies for hiring disadvantaged youth, either in the form of vouchers or TJTC. (Author/CMG)

This report presents representative findings from the Youth Employment and Demonstration Project Act's (YEDPA) experiments and evaluations since 1977, focusing largely on the programs' impacts on participants. The report begins with a review of YEDPA-sponsored research on the nature, causes, and consequences of youth unemployment. Chapter 2 deals directly with CETA's formula-funded titles and asks whether the CETA system overall has worked for disadvantaged youngsters. Chapter 3 examines Federal efforts to help youth through intensive skill-training, and Chapters 4 and 5 cover work experience for out-of-school youth and in-school youth, respectively. Chapter 6 deals with efforts to help youth in the summer; Chapter 7 reviews efforts to assist disadvantaged youth through counseling with intensive placement, self-directed job search assistance, and school-to-work transition programs; and Chapter 8 synthesizes the evidence on work attitudes and knowledge areas. Chapter 9 considers the demand-side of the labor market by reviewing job creation strategies for youth. Finally, Chapter 10 reviews efforts to help poor youth through new institutional arrangements with the private sector, schools, and community groups. (Author/CMG)

A study was conducted to determine whether existing work tests affected the timing and quality of jobs found after a period during which a person both received welfare benefits and had to register with the Employment Service (ES) in connection with their receipt. Six measurable aspects of a work test applicable to individuals were identified: Individuals could be (1) called into the ES office, (2) called in frequently, (3) questioned about job search activities, (4) asked for proof of job search activities, (5) referred to a job, and/or (6) pressured to accept a job. Based on a survey of 1966 Food Stamp (FS) and Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and Aid to Families with Dependent Children of Unemployed Fathers (AFDC-UF), the study was conducted in five cities using a questionnaire designed to capture employment experience following a stretch of unemployment or part-time employment during which respondents received FS or AFDC/AFDC-UF benefits. Three principal concerns were (1) how the application of the work tests varied by city and within cities by type of individual; (2) how the different work tests influenced job search patterns; and (3) how they influenced employment behavior. The overall conclusion is that results of the study provide a pessimistic picture of the usefulness of existing work tests in encouraging registrants to return to work. This report organizes the findings and conclusions under each of the three principle concerns and presents general conclusions and recommendations in the form of policy alternatives. (JT)

The study's objective were: (1) to describe the patterns of work and welfare experience in low-income families and to explain their causes, and (2) to apply the findings to the policy problem of deciding which groups of welfare recipients should be required to work and provided with what mix of manpower services. The effectiveness of work registration requirements was analyzed. The intention was to isolate the extent to which the welfare system itself causes job instability. The data sources were the Graduate Work Incentive (Negative Income Tax) Experiment and the Panel Study on Income Dynamics. The many findings are reported in terms of (1) work patterns, (2) the effects of welfare on work, and (3) welfare dependency. It was learned that those who can and cannot work are not easily distinguished on the basis of characteristics that could be specified. Labor market problems are not clearly linked with demographic characteristics. Overwhelmingly, males in the low-income population move from welfare to work on their own, and so, apparently, do most female heads of low-income families, over time. However, there is much movement from work to welfare, and little movement out of the low-income ranges. (Author/AJ)

Studies of concept formation in infancy have demonstrated that certain experimental settings can elicit spontaneous behavior from infants which has been called "sorting" or "object grouping". This study pursues the issue of early sorting with infants as young as 6 months, and with a broader range of stimuli than has been used previously. Forty-eight infants, eight male and eight female at 6, 9 and 12 months were presented with eight sets of small, manipulable objects. Each stimulus set consisted of two groups of four objects each, the groups differing in size, color, form or some combination of these dimensions. Stimuli thought to be of high salience were included. Variables coded were: which object touched first; the order in which objects were touched; grouping together of objects. At both 9 and 12 months, infants showed a high level of sorting activity. At 9 months, 94% showed sequential touching of like objects, while 100% did so at 12 months. At 9 months, 13% and at 12 months 44%, demonstrated at least primitive object grouping. At 6 months, selective manipulation was conspicuously absent, leading to the conclusion that this activity must emerge sometime between 6 and 9 months. (Author/RH)

This study reports on one of the knowledge development activities conducted under the Youth Employment and Demonstration Projects Act of l977 (YEDPA). The report contains findings of an analysis of nine YEDPA projects and the factors that contributed to effective implementation of these programs. The study compares discrete projects with different goals and objectives and identifies the successful implementation measures. The following common features of successfully implemented programs were found: (1) programs were conceptualized and designed as well as administered by local personnel; (2) all participating institutions cooperated because each benefits from the program; (3) potential pitfalls are thought through in advance so that responses are available rapidly; (4) projects are built on ideas that have already been tested locally and delivered by institutions of demonstrated effectiveness; (5) feedback and evaluation are built in from the beginning and results are used; each project has a problem solver; (6) persons with significant contacts in two or more institutional arenas required for program success are involved in key ways; (7) the projects tend to consider all elements necessary to make the activity succeed, especially emphasizing job placement from the outset. It was recommended that these success factors be taken into account when planning for the implementation of other YEDPA projects. (Detailed case studies of the nine programs are included in the report.) (KC)

Two job search assistance programs for disadvantaged youth, funded under the Youth Employment and Demonstrations Project Act, were evaluated for both operation and impact. The two programs were the Cambridge, Massachusetts, Job Factory, which paid youths a stipend for doing the "job" of finding a job, while providing group activities, resume writing, job search skills and placement assistance; and the Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Workshop, which assigned participants to one of three treatment groups to receive either individual career counseling and job placement services, career counseling, job placement services, and group job search skills workshops, or career counseling and job search skills workshops. No stipend was paid in the Pennsylvania project. In the Cambridge group, 203 youths were enrolled in the Job Factory while 165 served as controls; 396 youths were enrolled in the three treatment groups in Wilkes-Barre. The process evaluation showed that the Job Factory functioned fairly smoothly because it was a modification of an existing program, while the Workshop experienced difficulties in implementation because of its "top-down" model. The impact evaluation found that the Job Factory had a substantial effect in getting youth to work quickly, although these effects may not continue long-term, while in the Workshop, there were no significant differences in the rate of job finding for the three groups. Job Factory participants found moderately better jobs than the controls, while no major differences in the groups were found in the Workshop participants. In Cambridge, attitudes/knowledge areas did not contribute to job finding, while in Wilkes Barre, job search skills were a significant component of job finding. Overall, it was found that the intensity of the search fostered by the moral support of counselors was the most significant component in the job search assistance programs. (KC)

This interim review of the Youth Employment and Demonstration Projects Act (YEDPA) youth programs focuses on five topics through which were considered the universe of need, program experience, and policy recommendations. Chapter 1 is an introduction which briefly describes the law itself, including summaries of its major parts. It also discusses the method used to review YEDPA and present the findings. The next five chapters (2-6) are devoted to the topics used to structure the review: (1) public sector job creation, (2) access to the private sector, (3) educational strategies and institutions, (4) supportive services, and (5) management and research. These chapters open with a brief discussion of the main goals/purposes of the law with respect to the topic. They then proceed, in a largely narrative manner, to delineate lessons accumulated through two years of implementing the law. Chapter 7 is a brief concluding note on knowledge development. A sixteen-page bibliography includes a number of program reports, memoranda, and other unpublished documents. (YLB)

This booklet shows how postsecondary institutions can serve economically disadvantaged youth by working with local employment and training agencies. Programs administered by the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) are described as well as the students they served. Program goals and services are cited: vocational training, pre-college orientation, basic skills, life skills, and career exploration. Innovative instructional techniques to help disadvantaged youth succeed in the classroom are also listed. A discussion of the crucial role of support examines ways of extending contact with students outside of class and institutional adjustments to meet the needs of disadvantaged students. The importance of linking the classroom to the workplace and of developing worksites is also emphasized. Collaboration between colleges and private industry councils, employment and training agencies, employers, and community-based organizations is examined as a means to gain funding and assistance. Guidelines for developing collaborations are offered. Benefits from FIPSE projects are explored for postsecondary institutions, business and industry, and administrators of federal funds. (YLB)

Various materials are provided from the Career Beginnings Program. This program is described as a nationally organized, privately supported, locally based program in which colleges, businesses, and the community work together to provide career support and direction for low income youth. An executive summary discusses how the program works by combining four kinds of activities: a mentoring program, a college program, an enriched summer work experience program, and a year-round training program. A one-page summary of program accomplishments follows. A brochure for prospective students describes the program. Contents of an issue of the national newsletter of the Career Beginnings Program, "Beginning Now!," include testimonials of participants nationwide; some comments from mentors; an exchange of ideas, successes, and learning experiences from project cities; and an open letter to Career Beginnings students from a project manager. The last item is an issue of "Mentoring," which contains news and information for Career Beginnings mentors. The lead article discusses some special challenges of the next few months for Career Beginnings graduates. Another article presents an example of how mentors can become active promoters of the program in their communities. Other articles focus on techniques for developing self-esteem and self-reliance. Other contents include book reviews and suggested activities. (YLB)

The Supportive Services Program for Older Persons is designed to demonstrate that a private market for home and community-based health related services can be developed in response to the demand expressed by older people and their families. The objective of the program is to expand the service options available to older people by letting market forces determine what services are needed. Currently, services available to the elderly are based upon what reimbursement programs will cover, rather than the elderly's total needs. Eleven home health agencies are participating in this demonstration. The most common services being offered are house-based products, such as minor home repair, heavy chores, and handyman services. Case management and caregiver education programs are also being offered, as are a wide range of additional services, such as personal emergency response systems, transportation, and personal affairs management. The services offered under this program have been developed in response to the demands expressed by a private market. Use of this approach, rather than relying on provider determined "needs" has led to a different array of services than traditionally are provided by home health agencies. At the same time, this program was also intended to develop non-medical types of services since the framework for acute care services at home is fairly well-developed. (Author/ABL)