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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)

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)