|
|
No studies of YouthBuild that fall within the scope of the Dropout Prevention review protocol meet What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards. The lack of studies meeting WWC evidence standards means that, at this time, the WWC is unable to draw any conclusions based on research about the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of YouthBuild.
YouthBuild offers low-income youth both education and job training services. YouthBuild’s education component emphasizes attaining a GED or high school diploma, typically in alternative schools with small class sizes and an emphasis on individualized instruction. In YouthBuild’s job-training program, participants work in construction jobs building affordable housing for low-income and homeless people in their communities. YouthBuild is targeted to youth between the ages of 16 and 24 who are from low-income families and who have demonstrated educational need, typically by being high school dropouts. Participants spend six months to two years in the program. During this time, they alternate weeks between being full-time students and working full-time in the job-training program. Throughout the program, youth participate in counseling, peer support groups, and life-planning exercises that are intended to encourage them to overcome negative habits and pursue life goals. YouthBuild programs are typically sponsored by community- or faith-based organizations. These programs are linked by a centralized national office that provides implementation support to local YouthBuild sites, such as staff training and information on best practices and program innovations.
|
The WWC identified 32 studies of YouthBuild that were
|
|||
|---|---|---|---|
Three studies are within the scope of the review protocol but do not meet WWC evidence standards because they use a quasi-experimental design in which the analytic intervention and comparison groups are not shown to be equivalent. Twenty-five studies are out of the scope of the review protocol because they have an ineligible study design; these studies did not use a comparison group. Four studies are out of the scope of the review, as defined by the Dropout Prevention protocol, for reasons other than study design. Of these, three studies do not include an outcome within a domain specified in the protocol, and one study does not present primary research. |
1 The studies in this report were reviewed using WWC Evidence Standards, Version 2.0 (see the WWC Procedures and Standards Handbook, Chapter III).
2 The descriptive information for this program was obtained from a publicly available source: the program’s website (http://www.youthbuild.org, downloaded July 2009). The WWC requests developers to review the program description sections for accuracy from their perspective. Further verification of the accuracy of the descriptive information for this program is beyond the scope of this review.
|Institute of Education Sciences
Dropout