Pathways to Resilience III: Beyond Nature vs. Nurture

Abstract #282
Redefining Success: How Might the Perspectives of Practitioners and Youth Inform the Evaluation of Youth Job-Training Programs?
Presenter: Skye Allmang
Abstract:
Federally-funded youth job-training programs in the United States have undergone extensive evaluation since their creation in the 1960s. However, much remains to be learned regarding how these programs operate and what outcomes are achieved. Little has been documented on the practitioners’ or the youth’s perspectives of current evaluation practices, and whether they feel that evaluations have accurately represented their experiences with these job-training programs. This poster will highlight initial findings on practitioners’ perspectives on the evaluation of youth job-training programs, based on interviews conducted in the summer of 2014. Practitioners were asked to provide feedback based on their previous experiences with evaluation. They were also asked how their program defines success, and how that definition fits with their own definitions of success. Preliminary findings suggest that practitioners define success beyond whether or not youth experienced a change in earnings.The poster will outline next steps to be taken in the research process, including plans for interviewing youth participants, as well as ways in which information from the perspectives of practitioners and youth may be used to inform future evaluations of youth job-training programs.