Building Bridges Between Education

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Building Bridges Between Education Youth
Development

• Milbrey McLaughlin
• June 24, 2002
• National Forum of the Coalition for Community
  Schools

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Building bridges

• Warrant for bridges What is the rationale? The
  evidence?
• Building materials and strategies What
  resources are needed? Available?
• Challenges to constructing bridges What will it
  take?

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Whats the warrant?

• gt 25 of youth at risk of not achieving
  productive adulthood
• Teachers say they cant teach these kids
• Research on personal assets that support positive
  youth development
• Evidence on contexts that support personal assets

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(No Transcript)
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Personal Social Assets That Facilitate Positive
Youth Development

• Physical
• good health habits risk management skills
• Intellectual
• Knowledge of essential vocational and life
  skills school success thinking, reasoning and
  decisionmaking skills
• Psychological and emotional
• good mental health, positive self-regard social
  identity, coping skills, planfulness, personal
  autonomy, prosocial values
• Social
• Connectedness, attachment to conventional
  institutions,civic engagement

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Conclusions About Personal and Social Assets

• Individuals do not necessarily need the entire
  range of assets to thrivebut all youth need
  assets in all four domains
• All youth need a variety of experiences to
  develop their full potential more than school
  reform matters to school success
• Education reformers and others must adopt an
  expanded conception of learning teaching--
  beyond academics

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Program Context Features That Influence Asset
Development

• Physical and psychological safety
• Appropriate structure
• Supportive relationships
• Opportunities to belong

• Positive social norms
• Support for efficacy and mattering
• Opportunities for skill building
• Integration of family, school, and community
  efforts

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Conclusions about program context features

• Schools cant do it alone community resources
  can make particular and important contributions
• Continued exposure to positive experiences
  opportunities supports acquisition and growth of
  these assets
• Youth thrive when messages and supports from
  school, family and community are coherent and
  mutually reinforcing

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Community Counts

• How youth organizations matter for youth
  development

Milbrey W. McLaughlin
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We studied diverse youth organizations

• 120 youth organizations in 34 different
  communities-- urban, rural, mid-sized
• local affiliates, grass roots, public agencies...
• sports, arts, club programs, community service.

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What youth achieved in community organizations

• Academic recognition plans for further
  education
• Self-confidence, efficacy and optimism-- Life
  skills
• Civic responsibility and connection to community

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Are these benefits sustained?
Nearly all of the 60 youth we have followed for
more than a decade

• Have gotten some kind of post-high school
  training
• Hold steady jobs
• Are engaged parents
• Are active members of their communities

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Dimensions of an Intentional Learning Environment
Youth- Centered
Community
Assessment- Centered
Knowledge- Centered
Bransford, Brown Cocking, 1999
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Bridges can bring..

• Enhanced opportunities to learn
• Enhanced opportunities to teach
• Positive youth development across all personal
  assets
• Increased capability of teachers both those in
  and those out of school
• Civic will to invest in opportunities for youth
  development

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Materials for bridging learning environments in
out of school...

• Spaces and times for learning
• Agents of learning and teaching
• Content, methods and materials of learning
• Communicators across contexts
• Assessment of performance progress

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What will it take to build strong bridges?

• Re-forming school/community relations
  intentional connections
• Creating of a coherent system voice among
  community organizations
• Investing in community supports for youth
  development
• Identifying youth as vehicle for change
• Developing of a community-level accountability
  system compelling vision of community goals for
  youth