Youthprise Newsflash: January 2014

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To TheReader1

Youth(prise) & Evalution: What Works?2

Initial Results fromBaselineStudy Released3

Using Datato MoveSystemsChange4

Young People Studying Young People5

Contact Us | Feedback/Questions

Table of Contents


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A letter from Wokie Weah Dear Friends,As many of you know, this past October Youthprise held

our first annual summit,Accelerating Leadership and

Innovation Beyond the Classroom.One of the major

focus areas was on collecting and using data to improve

programs and systems.

In this publication you will read about the innovative

1 To The Reader . .


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learning in Minneapolis, a study that we will continue in

St. Paul in 2014.Youthprise partners are also using datato improve and

accelerate the work in the OST field. We are partnering

with the University of Minnesota Extensions Center for

Youth Development and Dale Blyth, PhD, to increase theunderstanding of socio-emotional skills and learning

from Gene Roehlkepartain at the Search Institute about

measuring non-cognitive skills. Were looking forward to

new research commissioned by the Wallace Foundationthat will further develop our understanding of the impact

of non-cognitive factors on youth success.

Take a dive into this issue of the


6/61

Honoring our Common Heritage and Promoting Solidarityis

an opportunity to commemorate Black History Month with aseries of events that embrace the insight, resourcefulness, and

energy of todays youth, while also tapping into the strengths

of Black culture and history. This years event will focus on

diversity among Minnesotas Pan African population and willinclude dialogue on promoting unity and reconciliation among

the many groups representing the African Diaspora and living

in the Twin Cities.

Philanthropy Breakfast.Co-sponsored by the MinneapolisPublic Schools Office of Equity & Diversity, this event will

Black History Month

Celebration 2014February 21, 2014.

UPCOMING

EVENTS


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Here at Youthprise Youth Engagementfilters into all

of the work we do. From our staff to our board, from

implementation to evaluation, we incorporate youth voiceacross our work. We believe that engaging young people

in designing and implementing programs and initiatives

will produce better results for Youthprise and for the out-

of-school time field as a whole. Young people come with

their big ideas and their creativity and they encourage

youth(prise)& Evaluation:What Works?Featuring, Libby Rau & David Kim


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DO LEARN SHARE

INFORMREVISE & CREATE

as a model for other out-of-school time intermediaries,

foundations and organizations that serve youth. Earlier thisyear, we asked Rainbow Research to conduct a formative

evaluation of our youth engagement efforts, including our

team of youth interns, the Youth Innovators, and the Youth

Engagement Committee of our Board of Directors.The evaluation included ten interviews with Youthprise

staff; three focus groups with current and past Innovators

and the Youth Engagement Committee of our board;

three staff meetings observed using their Observationchecklist; and a total of 44 people participating.

The formative

evaluationis part

of an experientiall i l th t


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One of the challenges we have faced as a youth-

led research team is the lack of training for adults to

meaningfully partner with youth There is an enthusiasm

around incorporating youth voice, but a lack of tools to help

build youth/adult partnerships.

-Paris Caruthers, Research and Evaluation AmeriCorps Promise Fellow

This is about power, and how the mainstream research

field uses its power to impose certain processes on youngpeople without our consent. Thus whatever the outcomes, the

process itself violates our self-determination.

-David Kim, Youth Media Research and Community Builder

Rainbow Researchs evaluationrevealed that theret i t t i l ti th ti th


10/61

One of the main conclusions

Rainbow Research shared was this:

As a result of the evaluation,Youthprise is

developing plans to create an organization-

wide youth engagement plan and invest in

training and technical assistance to share thelessons learned from our experiments in order

The benefits of engaging youth in

evaluation and research far outweigh thecosts, and an authentic approach to youthengagement greatly benefits the outcomesthat young people are involved in.


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Initial Results from

Baseline Study ReleasedYoung people have 2,000 hours of discretionary time

each year,more than twice the time they spend in the

classroom. So its critical that we take advantage of thosehours to engage young people in learning, build their

leadership, and increase the 21st Century skills they will

need to succeed in work and in life. Participation and

engagement in high quality out-of-school-time (OST)youth programs can have positive outcomes in a variety of


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which we can measure future success. Phase I of the study

focused on Minneapolis and was completed in cooperationwith Minneapolis Public Schools Research Department

and its Community Education Department as well as

numerous youth programs in the community.

Phase II is scheduled for Saint Paul in 2014.

The OST opportunity gaploosely defined aspoor access to quality learning opportunities, which

could mean not enough programs or slots, or lack oftransportation--poses a threat to our ability to reallyengage young people beyond the classroom.

Marcus Pope, Youthprise


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MethodologyThe study analyzed and mapped, by Minneapolis zip code,the rate of youth ages 11-18 participating in free or reduced

cost OST programs. Rates were calculated by dividing the

number of OST participants 11-18 residing in a zip code by

the number of all youth of the same age and with the sameattributes residing there. This methodology was also used

to determine a citywide participation rate.

Our primary data sourceon OST participants is the

database maintained by Minneapolis Public SchoolsCommunity Education Department, which includes

participant data on 1,477 free and reduced cost OST

programs that operate at Minneapolis Public Schools

sites. In addition, data was collected on participants inanother 110 community-based OST programs. Examining


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activities because there is no public record available.

Youth participating in these programs are more likelyto be from middle- and upper-class families who are

disproportionately white and can afford expensive tuition,

dues, fees and supplies for their private lessons in art,

music, dance, drama, martial arts, and tutoring or non-

profit amateur sports and athletic leagues.

Further, of the 81

community-based

youth organizations

for whom the school

district does not

include OST data that

were contacted to

participate in the study, six could not participate becauseth did t ll t t i d t t f th ti i t

It does suggest howevera two-tiered system of OST

program opportunities withan as yet unmeasuredimpact on youth outcomes.

Barry Cohen, Rainbow Research


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55430

55412

55418

55413

55455

55454

55414

55402

55401

55415

55406

55407

55404

55417

55419

55410

55409

55408

55416

55403

55405

55411

55430

55412

55418

55413

55455

55454

55414

55402

55401

55415

55406

55407

55404

55417

55419

55410

55409

55408

55416

55403

55405

55411

Citywide 2012 OST

Program Participation Rates

Participation Rates

Per 100 Population

Program Location

35.1 to 50 x 1

30.1 to 35 x 3

20.1 to 30 x 6

15.1 to 20 x 8

10.1 to 15 x 2

For youth in free and low cost OST programs, the

study found:

The four zip codes with

the highest participation

rates were: 55455 (Cedar-

Riverside) 45.3%; 55404(Ventura Village/Stevens

Square) 34.3%; 55411

(Near North) 33.6%; and

55407 (South Central

Corridor including

Phillips, Powderhorn, Central, Bryant,

Bancroft, Field, Regina, Northrop). These

overlapped with the four zip codes with the

highest number of young people living in

th N N th S th C t l C d


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The largest gap in participation rates is for older youth. As young

people get older their participation rates drop.

Even in specific neighborhoods where there is relatively higher

participation in OST programs, participation rates are stillunder 50%.

Among low income youth, participation in OST programming

was relatively high but still less than half (47%) of all

Minneapolis students 11-18 participating in the free andreduced lunch program also participated in free and reduced


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The drop-off in participationby older youth in OSTprograms is a well-established finding. Increased outreach

to this population as well as opportunities to engagethem in designing programs to meet their developmentalneeds and interests might increase participation andengagement of teens2. Their participation rates howevermay be higher than our study could assess. Older youth

are often more heavily involved in organized sports andthe extent of their involvement in Park and Recreationprograms, as was noted, could not be documented at theindividual level.

Observations

The baseline study confirmed the presenceof significant gaps in access to and participation in freeand low-cost OST programming in Minneapolis. Evenamong groups where there are relatively high participationrates, e.g., African Americans, the study showed at bestonly 1 in 3 youth participate. And in the zip code with the

highest participation rate, 55455 (Cedar-Riverside), stillless than half of young people are engaged in these growth-


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like demographic and dosage. This is an important firststep in understanding and addressing data collection

challenges and creating policies and protocols that ensuredata confidentiality as well as usefulness. It also lays thefoundation for a single comprehensive database of OSTopportunities and participation rates that can be moreeasily used to increase the educational, developmental and

behavioral outcomes for Minneapolis young people.Implications & Next StepsThe data from the baseline study can be used in severalways: to plan the siting of new programs or the typesof programming to offer at different sites; to determine

resource allocation across the community and to seek newfunding to address gaps or reduce barriers to access liketransportation; and to market programs to families, especiallyin neighborhoods where there are fewer programs.

In particular, we suggest considerationof the following:

Given the drop in participation rates for older youth, market


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funding, assessment of change and changes needed, andis dependent on a comprehensive system of youth OST

providers first collecting this level of demographic and dosageinformation, then being able and willing to share these datacentrally. This requires demonstrating the value-added of thisinformation to young people, providers and other stakeholders.It also suggests more immediately the following next steps.

PUBLIC SECTOR: Address the state statute thatlimits Parks and Recreation from sharing data, andpublic libraries from sharing information aboutpatrons.

PRIVATE NON-PROFITS: Expand the capacity of

small youth programs to collect these data.

INFRASTRUCTURE: Build a secure infrastructure anddata sharing agreements necessary to centralize thecollection of OST participation and opportunity data.

An initial exploratory study like the Baseline Study also leads todeeper questions.


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Phase II of the baseline study will begin in 2014 in Saint

Paul. Additional material from Phase I of the study, including

detailed maps, will also be posted on the Youthprise website in

the near future. The goal is to replicate the study at least everythree years to determine progress in increasing participation,

monitoring gaps and, if feasible, evaluating OST program

outcomes examine relationships between participation,

engagement, quality and dosage, and, e.g., school attendance

rates, suspension rates, juvenile justice system involvement

In some ways, what was most surprising tome was how segregated OST youth program

participation appears to beCaucasian youth,particularly those in wealthier southwestneighborhoods, do something else for sports andrecreation. Rebecca (Beki) Saito, Rainbow Research


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Using Data

to Move Systems Change

How many youth are participatingin out-of-school time (OST) programs

in Saint Paul?When Saint Paul Mayor Chris

Coleman posed the question, there wasnt an easy answer.

The lack of an answer was a key factor in the creation of

Sprockets, a network of afterschool and summer programs

in Saint Paul.Sprockets tracks program participation program quality


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Sprockets is about supporting

programs to do their best work andprovide access to resources that allowthem to do that,

Skold explains. Sprockets

collects data on three levels: participation, outcomes,

and quality. Evaluation tools are key to collecting and

understanding data at hand. Sprockets uses the Survey

of Academic and Youth Outcomes, or SAYO, for youth

outcome data, and YPQA, or Youth Program Quality

Assessment, for quality data. SAYO measures eight

outcome areas that research suggests are linked to long-term positive development and academic and life success

for youth. The YPQA was developed to not only assess

program quality features, but to create customized action

plans to enhance youth programs. The YPQA focuseson key areas of quality at the point where staff and youth


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to Pruitt, it doesnt matter which program they are going

to, rather how many different touches theyre having

with our network. Once youth participants in Northfield

OST programs have reached a certain threshold for

attendance (typically thirty times a year), HCI examines

academic data provided from the school district. They also

administer evaluations among frequent attendees to OST

programs that measure program safety, effectiveness, and

staff/youth respect, along with questions regarding young

peoples engagement in the community and future goals.

DATAonly haspowerif its used,Pruitt asserts. One wayNorthfield HCI has used data is to track participants in

the TORCH program, an initiative that focuses on raisingd ti t f L ti t d t If f l


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If you see that your

attendance is dipping

on Tuesday, and you

want to engage youth

in more leadership

opportunities, you can

Skold points to a data cycle Sprocketsis putting in place.

First, resources are needed to begin data collection. Then,

with these resources, data is procured. Once organizations

have data, they can produce a quality improvement plan.

Then resources are required to implement that plan. After

that, the cycle repeats itself. Skold stresses, The repeat

part is very important. Out-of-school time is not static,

there is always room for improvement.


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Ask any parent, teacher or other invested individual

about the future of primary education in America and the

conversation will inevitably veer towards standardized

testing. Education in our school systems often consists

of an unspoken teach, learn, test, and forget process.

Students learn content taught by teachers only to be tested

on the material. After testing, many students find that the

information is no longer useful. Learning is understoodh i l d t t t t d

Young PeopleStudying Young People:A new approach to research


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This isnt a new problem.Educational experts and

research professionals across the country have devoted

themselves to finding non-academic indicators of

success for young people. They argue that student success

is the result of much more than test scores and attendance

sheets. Their work has been pivotal in many new initiatives

geared towards building non-academic skills in and

outside the classroom.

However, when the Youthprise YouthResearch

Innovators began investigating the problem, it became

clear that we were looking through the wrong lens. It

seemed as though most of the efforts specialized towards

building better students were just that, specialized.

Beyond that, these efforts still focused on producing better

students, not better human beings. The goal, while noble,till t f d th d i Thi l d t


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We established early on that we would use our age

and inexperience as tools, not weaknesses. We knew

that being the subject of research had commonly been

a traumatic experience for many young people and we

knew that in order to build trust with participants, we

would have to draw them from our own communities

and have candid conversations with people our own age.

It was tough going at first. None of the Innovators had

experience running focus groups or doing interviews.

So we built around what we knew.

All of us had played group games before, and we all

knew what a respectful conversation did not look like.

That seemed like a good place to start. We built our

space around having a good time, good food and good

conversation. By approaching the focus groups on equalt th fl d f l d i ll Th


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particularly outspoken. And contrary to what many adults

may believe, young people are aware and concerned

about the messages being put forth through popular

media. These messages could also have a large effect on

self-esteem, day-to-day decision-making and even the

formulation of ones thoughts and opinions over time.

The work we did over

the summer is a glimpse

into some of the ideas

that drive Youthprise.

Through the formation of

the Research Team and

other opportunities for

young people weve found

that young people studyingl i t

Young people

are aware and

concerned about

the messages

being put forthth h l


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WallaceFoundationInvests in

ResearchThe Wallace Foundationis a national philanthropy that

seeks to improve education and enrichment for

disadvantaged children. They develop and test promising

ideas on the ground, study the results, research related

issues and share what theyve learned broadly to help

improve childrens lives. Wallace is a major funder of

Sprockets, Saint Pauls OST Network.

Recently, Wallace made a major investment to


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Read on and please join the

conversation on our Facebook andTwitter pages

Contact Uswith any feedback

or questions

Karen KingsleyDirector of Public Policy

and Communications

612.564.4858 ext. 5

[email protected]

Lizzy ShramkoCommunications Associate

612.564.4858 ext. [email protected]

Alyssa RoachYouth Innovator Contact

[email protected]
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Investingin the

EnterpriseOF

Youth


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Volume N02 Issue N01Interactive Verision

January 2014


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Black History Month Celebration 2014February 21st, 2014

To The Reader1

Youth(prise) & Evalution: What Works?2

Initial Results from Baseline Study Released3

Using Data to Move Systems Change4

Young People Studying Young People5

Contact Us | Feedback/Questions

Table of Contents

Volume NO2 Issue NO1January 2014[Youthprise]Newsflash1


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A letter from Wokie WeahDear Friends,

As many of you know, this past

October Youthprise held our first annualsummit,Accelerating Leadership and

Innovation Beyond the Classroom.

One of the major focus areas was on

collecting and using data to improve

programs and systems.

In this publication you willreadabout the innovative ways thatresearch and data are used internally

and in the field to create change.

Sprockets and Northfield Healthy

Communities Initiative use data

in their coordinated efforts to move

systems change. Youthprises youth

research team uses data around holisticindicators to measure the success of

other Minnesota youth an approach

that is gaining traction nationally.

Were working with Rainbow

Researchto evaluate our internalyouth engagement work, and wereleased initial results from a baseline

study that measures the opportunity

gap in access to quality

1 To The Reader . .



35/61

Wokie WeahPresident of Youthprise

learning in Minneapolis, a study that we

will continue in St. Paul in 2014.

Youthprise partners are also

using datato improve and acceleratethe work in the OST field. We are

partnering with the University of

Minnesota Extensions Center for Youth

Development and Dale Blyth, PhD, to

increase the understanding of socio-

emotional skills and learning from

Gene Roehlkepartain at the Search

Institute about measuring non-cognitive

skills. Were looking forward to newresearch commissioned by the Wallace

Foundation that will further develop

our understanding of the impact of non-

cognitive factors on youth success.

Take a dive into this issue of the NewsFlash to learn

about the innovative ways that data is being used and

to learn about coming innovations in 2014!



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Honoring our Common Heritage and

Promoting Solidarityis an opportunity

to commemorate Black History Month

with a series of events that embrace the

insight, resourcefulness, and energy of

todays youth, while also tapping into thestrengths of Black culture and history. This

years event will focus on diversity among

Minnesotas Pan African population and

will include dialogue on promoting unity

and reconciliation among the many groups

representing the African Diaspora andliving in the Twin Cities.

Philanthropy Breakfast. Co-sponsored

by the Minneapolis Public Schools Office

of Equity & Diversity, this event will

engage public and private funders andother stakeholders in a dialogue about

how they can support efforts toward

building leadership and learning

opportunities for young people.

Community Forum. This youth-directedforum will include a range of

presentations and performances by local

youth involved in out-of-school time

programs. Local sheroes and heroes will

be honored for their work in building the

capacity of young people in our local

community. The program will close with

an intergenerational choir led by

Grammy Award Winning recording

artists, Sounds of Blackness.

Black History Month CelebrationFebruary 21, 2014.

UPCOMINGEVENTS



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Here at Youthprise Youth Engagement

filters into all of the work we do.From our staff to our board, from

implementation to evaluation, we

incorporate youth voice across our

work. We believe that engaging young

people in designing and implementing

programs and initiatives will producebetter results for Youthprise and for

the out-of-school time field as a whole.

Young people come with their big ideas

and their creativity and they encourage

us as adults to think freshly about

the challenges were facing. Plus,

since youth are the ones most

affected, its critical that they have

a say in the decision-making.

Whether it is grantmaking,

technical assistance or our work

building partnerships, we know that

incorporating youth will elevate the out-of-school time field in Minnesota, and

help us achieve our mission to ensure

that all youth succeed.

How does research and data fit into our

youth engagement strategies?

Internally, Youthprise developsand

tests approaches for authentic youth

engagement so that we can serve

youth(prise)

& Evaluation:What Works?Featuring, Libby Rau & David Kim



38/61

DO LEARN SHARE

INFORMREVISE & CREATE

as a model for other out-of-school

time intermediaries, foundations and

organizations that serve youth. Earlier

this year, we asked Rainbow Research

to conduct a formative evaluation of our

youth engagement efforts, including

our team of youth interns, the Youth

Innovators, and the Youth Engagement

Committee of our Board of Directors.

The evaluation included ten interviews

with Youthprise staff; three focus groups

with current and past Innovators and

the Youth Engagement Committee of

our board; three staff meetings observed

using their Observation checklist; and atotal of 44 people participating.

The formative evaluationis part of an

experiential learning cycle that helps

us continually improve and adapt our

approaches. Here are some reflections

from our youth research team who were

involved in the evaluation process:

In all of our work, we begin withrelationship; that is, we seek to build

authentic relationships with the youth weare engaging. Thus in the focus groups we

have organized, we have eaten together,

played games, and held lively peer-to-peer

conversations on issues that we care about.

Because we do not expect others to share

what we will not, we share parts of our own

experiences in every session; reciprocity is

primary.

-David Kim, Youth Media Researcher and

Community Builder



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One of the challenges we have faced as a youth-led research team is the lack oftraining for adults to meaningfully partner with youth There is an enthusiasm aroundincorporating youth voice, but a lack of tools to help build youth/adult partnerships.

-Paris Caruthers, Research and EvaluationAmeriCorps Promise Fellow

This is about power, and how the mainstream research field uses its power to

impose certain processes on young people without our consent. Thus whatever theoutcomes, the process itself violates our self-determination.

-David Kim, Youth Media Research and Community BuilderRainbow Researchs evaluation revealed that there are some constraints to

implementing authentic youth engagement processes. Some organizations do not

have the staff time or budget to commit to youth engagement in data, researchand evaluation. Sometimes, leaders within organizations need to be convinced

that youth should be engaged in evaluation and research. Or sometimes there is

difficulty in recruiting youth to work with the organization.



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Article Co-Author:

David S. KimYouth Media Researcher & Community Builder

Article Co-Author:

Libby RauDirector of Youth Engagement

One of the mainconclusions RainbowResearch shared was this:

As a result of the evaluation,

Youthprise is developing plans

to create an organization-wide

youth engagement plan and

invest in training and technical

assistance to share the lessons

learned from our experiments in

order to build the capacity of the field.

The benefits of engaging youth inevaluation and research far outweigh thecosts, and an authentic approach to youthengagement greatly benefits the outcomes

that young people are involved in.



41/61

Initial Resultsfrom BaselineStudy Released

Young people have 2,000 hours of

discretionary time each year, morethan twice the time they spend in

the classroom. So its critical that

we take advantage of those hours to

engage young people in learning,

build their leadership, and increase

the 21st Century skills they willneed to succeed in work and in life.

Participation and engagement in

high quality out-of-school-time (OST)

youth programs can have positive

outcomes in a variety of domains.

Information about opportunity andparticipation disparitiesWho is and

isnt participating in these growth-

enhancing opportunities? Are there

gaps or disparities by family income,

geographic location, or age?has beencollected in a new study released by

Youthprise and Rainbow Research.

The Baseline Study set out to look

specifically at participation in and

access to free and, or low-cost OST

programming opportunities andparticipation rates across age, race/

ethnicity, and family income in the

Twin Cities. Among other things it will

provide a benchmark against



42/61

which we can measure future success.

Phase I of the study focused on

Minneapolis and was completed in

cooperation with Minneapolis Public

Schools Research Department and itsCommunity Education Department as

well as numerous youth programs in the

community. Phase II is scheduled for

Saint Paul in 2014.An unanticipated outcomeof this

developmental study was the identification

of some critical roadblocks in collecting

citywide youth participation datafrom

state statutes preventing Parks and

Recreation (one of the largest youth-

serving organizations in Minneapolis)

from sharing participant data, to youth

programs that dont have the capacityto collect and manage these data. On

the flip side, further studies in which

participation dosage and quality are

linked with school performance andsocial-emotional learning outcomes are

currently being explored.

The OST opportunity gaploosely defined as poor access to quality

learning opportunities, which could mean not enough programs or slots,or lack of transportation--poses a threat to our ability to really engageyoung people beyond the classroom.

Marcus Pope, Youthprise



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Methodology

The study analyzed and mapped, by

Minneapolis zip code, the rate of youth

ages 11-18 participating in free orreduced cost OST programs. Rates were

calculated by dividing the number of

OST participants 11-18 residing in a zip

code by the number of all youth of the

same age and with the same attributes

residing there. This methodology was

also used to determine a citywide

participation rate.

Our primary data sourceon OST

participants is the database maintained

by Minneapolis Public SchoolsCommunity Education Department,

which includes participant data on 1,477

free and reduced cost OST programs

that operate at Minneapolis Public

Schools sites. In addition, data was

collected on participants in another

110 community-based OST programs.

Examining data at the individual levelenabled the study to report participation

rates based on an unduplicated count.

Two of the largest providers of OST

programming were not able to share

data. Minneapolis Parks and Recreationis prohibited by state statute from

sharing participant level information and

the Hennepin County Library collects

limited data on their patrons. The study

was unable to determine how many

youth participated in OST programsfrom which we did not collect data.

In addition, the study doesnot include

data on the youth who participate in

private and fee-for-service OST



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activities because there is no public

record available. Youth participating in

these programs are more likely to be

from middle- and upper-class familieswho are disproportionately white and can

afford expensive tuition, dues, fees and

supplies for their private lessons in art,

music, dance, drama, martial arts, and

tutoring or non-profit amateur sports and

athletic leagues.

Further, of the 81 community-based

youth organizations for whom the school

district does not include OST data that

were contacted to participate in thestudy, six could not participate because

they didnt collect or retain data on most

of the participant attributes of interest;

seven were concerned about liability for

data confidentiality and privacy, and over

half (43) never replied.

Results The study includes an

unduplicated count of 7,323 Minneapolis

young people, ages 11-18, who were

enrolled in free and reduced cost OST

programs in Minneapolis in 2012-13.This represents about one-fourth of the

approximately 30,000 Minneapolis youth

of that age-group.

It does suggesthowever a two-tiered systemof OST program opportunitieswith an as yet unmeasuredimpacton youth outcomes.

Barry Cohen, Rainbow ResearchVolume NO2 Issue NO1January 2014[Youthprise]Newsflash12


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For youth in free

and low costOST programs,

the study found:

The four zip codes

with the highest participation rates

were: 55455 (Cedar-Riverside) 45.3%;55404 (Ventura Village/Stevens Square)

34.3%; 55411 (Near North) 33.6%; and

55407 (South Central Corridor including

Phillips, Powderhorn, Central, Bryant,

Bancroft, Field, Regina, Northrop). These

overlapped with the four zip codes with the

highest number of young people living in

them: Near North, South Central, Camden,

and then far south central including Kennyand Lynnhurst.

The three zip codes with the lowest

participation rates were some of the

wealthiest Minneapolis neighborhoods:

55410 (southwest) 10.6%, 55416 (Kenwood)

13.3%, and 55403 (Loring Park) 15.2%.

If you slice the data by race/ethnicity, the

White participation rate is lowest at 12.6%

as compared with the highest rate at 37.7%

of African Americans, followed by Native

Americans (30.1%).1

55430

55412

55418

55413

55455

55454

55414

55402

55401

55415

55406

55407

55404

55417

55419

55410

55409

55408

55416

55403

55405

55411

55430

55412

55418

55413

55455

55454

55414

55402

55401

55415

55406

55407

55404

55417

55419

55410

55409

55408

55416

55403

55405

55411

Citywide 2012 OST

Program Participation Rates

Participation Rates

Per 100 Population

Program Location

35.1 to 50 x 1

30.1 to 35 x 3

20.1 to 30 x 6

15.1 to 20 x 8

10.1 to 15 x 2

Minneapolis Public Schools classify US born AfricanAmerican youth and youth of African immigrant/refugeeheritage as African American in its school census data.Participation rates in free/reduced cost OST programs are25% for Asian youth, 23% Hispanic, 19% Native American and12% White.

1



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The largest gap in participation rates is for

older youth. As young people get older their

participation rates drop.

Even in specific neighborhoods where thereis relatively higher participation in OST

programs, participation rates are still

under 50%.

Among low income youth, participation in OST

programming was relatively high but still less

than half (47%) of all Minneapolis students 11-

18 participating in the free and reduced lunch

program also participated in free and reduced

cost OST programs (n=5, 471).

In terms of geographic

distribution, participation

rates are negligible in

areas with very small anddispersed populations of

color (50 or less), suggesting

barriers to program access in those

neighborhoods. The fact that there are

disparities between neighborhoods

even within the same income and racial

group suggests that parents wmay not

be aware of the available opportunities

and targeted marketing might increase

enrollments. More importantly however it

may be a matter of limited availability oftransportation in these areas and the high

cost of transporting such small numbers of

eligible youth who reside in them.



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Saito, R. N., and Sullivan, T. K. The Many Faces, Features,and Outcomes of Youth Engagement. Journal of YouthDevelopment, Volume 6, Number 3, Fall 2011.

2

The drop-off in participationbyolder youth in OST programs is awell-established finding. Increasedoutreach to this population as well

as opportunities to engage them indesigning programs to meet theirdevelopmental needs and interestsmight increase participationand engagement of teens2. Theirparticipation rates however may behigher than our study could assess.

Older youth are often more heavilyinvolved in organized sports and theextent of their involvement in Park andRecreation programs, as was noted, couldnot be documented at the individuallevel.

Observations

The baseline study confirmed thepresence of significant gaps in accessto and participation in free and low-costOST programming in Minneapolis. Evenamong groups where there are relativelyhigh participation rates, e.g., AfricanAmericans, the study showed at best

only 1 in 3 youth participate. And in thezip code with thehighest participationrate, 55455 (Cedar-Riverside), still lessthan half of young people are engaged

in these growth-enhancing programs andopportunities.

Initial findings from the studyshowthat young people of color areparticipating in free and reduced costOST programs at higher rates thanWhite youth who are disproportionately

middle-income. Since the study couldnot take into account participation inOST programming that is private pay itdoes not reflect the afterschool programchoices of middle-income families.

The baseline study provided insighton the extent to which OST providersare able to collect and report accurateand consistent program level participantdata,



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like demographic and dosage. This is animportant first step in understanding andaddressing data collection challengesand creating policies and protocols that

ensure data confidentiality as well asusefulness. It also lays the foundationfor a single comprehensive database ofOST opportunities and participationrates that can be more easily used toincrease the educational, developmentaland behavioral outcomes for Minneapolisyoung people.

Implications & Next StepsThe data from the baseline study canbe used in several ways: to plan thesiting of new programs or the types ofprogramming to offer at different sites; todetermine resource allocation across thecommunity and to seek new funding toaddress gaps or reduce barriers to accesslike transportation; and to market programsto families, especially in neighborhoodswhere there are fewer programs.

In particular, we suggestconsideration of the following:

Given the drop in participation rates forolder youth, market program informationdirectly to and by older youth in ways thatthey deem user-friendly, e.g., phone apps,

kiosks in schools.Address both opportunity and access gaps.

There are four zip codes thataccount for 44% of the youthpopulation in Minneapolis (twonorth 55411 and 55412, and twosouth 55407, 55419). Increaseresources and capacity to ensureadequate opportunities andaccess for young people in theseneighborhoods.

Address transportation needsof low-income youth in all

neighborhoods to access OSTprograms.

Centrally collected citywide data about OSTparticipation patterns, gaps and disparitiesis essential for good planning,



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funding, assessment of change andchanges needed, and is dependent ona comprehensive system of youth OSTproviders first collecting this level ofdemographic and dosage information, thenbeing able and willing to share these datacentrally. This requires demonstrating thevalue-added of this information to youngpeople, providers and other stakeholders.It also suggests more immediately thefollowing next steps.

PUBLIC SECTOR: Address thestate statute that limits Parks andRecreation from sharing data,and public libraries from sharinginformation about patrons.

PRIVATE NON-PROFITS: Expandthe capacity of small youth

programs to collect these data.INFRASTRUCTURE: Build a secureinfrastructure and data sharingagreements necessary to centralizethe collection of OST participationand opportunity data.

An initial exploratory study like the BaselineStudy also leads to deeper questions.

For instance, Youthprise andRainbow Research are currently

looking at the feasibility of a deeperstudy, targeting two of the districtshigh priority schools and linkingparticipants dosage, and possiblyprogram quality, with schoolperformance and social emotionaloutcomes.

These data tell us that what youngpeople participate in depends inpart on whether their family hasa lot of money. It brings up thequestion: what are the differencesbetween the kinds of opportunitiesand the benefits that are accrued in

programs that are free and open tothe public verses expensive trainingand amateur sports leagues andclubs?



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Using Datato Move Systems Change

How many youth

are participating in out-of-school time (OST) programsin Saint Paul?When SaintPaul Mayor Chris Coleman posed thequestion, there wasnt an easy answer.

The lack of an answer was a key factor

in the creation of Sprockets, a networkof afterschool and summer programs in

Saint Paul.

Sprockets tracks program

participation, program quality,

and youth outcomes to

provide a comprehensive set

of data for OST in Saint Paul.Similar efforts are underway in

Northfield, Minnesota under

the leadership of the Northfield

Healthy Communities Initiative.

Erik Skold of Sprockets and Zach Pruitt

of Northfield Healthy Communities

Initiative are two individuals at the

forefront of this new, all-hands-on-

deck approach to building coordinated

effective systems. With the lack of

readily available data, Sprockets andNorthfield HCI are leading the charge

to make information available for the

benefit of the OST community.



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to Pruitt, it doesnt matter which program

they are going to, rather how many

different touches theyre having with our

network. Once youth participants in

Northfield OST programs have reached a

certain threshold for attendance (typically

thirty times a year), HCI examines

academic data provided from the school

district. They also administer evaluations

among frequent attendees to OSTprograms that measure program safety,

effectiveness, and staff/youth respect,

along with questions regarding young

peoples engagement in the community

and future goals.

DATAonly haspowerif its used, Pruittasserts. One way Northfield HCI has

used data is to track participants in

the TORCH program, an initiative that

focuses on raising graduation rates for

Latino students. If, for example, a student

who had been a regular attendee stops

attending a program, it is possible to run

queries on contacts with other programs

and on academic performance. This

shared data makes sure kids arent falling

through the cracks. Skold echoes thissentiment, as well as stressing the ways

in which data can be used to improve

existing programs: If you see that

your attendance is dipping on Tuesday,

and you want to engage youth in more

leadership opportunities because yourleadership and engagement SAYO quality

scores are low, you can create a leadership

opportunity on Tuesdays and kill two

birds with one stone.

21 Volume NO2 Issue NO1January 2014[Youthprise]Newsflash


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If you see that yourattendance is dipping onTuesday, and you wantto engage youth in moreleadership opportunities,

you can create aleadership opportunity

on Tuesdays and kill twobirds with one stone.

Skold points to a data cycle Sprockets

is putting in place. First, resources are

needed to begin data

collection. Then,with these resources,

data is procured.

Once organizations

have data, they can

produce a quality

improvement plan.Then resources

are required to implement that plan.

After that, the cycle repeats itself.

Skold stresses, The repeat part is

very important. Out-of-school timeis not static, there is always room for

improvement.

Article Co-Author:

Karen KingsleyDirector of Public Policy & Communications

Article Co-Author:

Alyssa RoachDevelopment Innovator



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Young PeopleStudying Young People:A new approach to research

Ask any parent, teacher or other

invested individual about the future of

primary education in America and the

conversation will inevitably veer towardsstandardized testing. Education in our

school systems often consists of an

unspoken teach, learn, test, and forget

process. Students learn content taught

by teachers only to be tested on thematerial. After testing, many students

find that the information is no longer

useful. Learning is understood as a

mechanical process used to pass tests,

get good grades and

advance in school;

it is gutted of wonder, of complexity, of

relationship. We lack a genuine, holistic

approach that seeks to nourish lives

devoted to seeking knowledge, buildingwisdom or fulfilling purpose.

Whether positive or negative,it seems

as though everyone has an opinion on

what needs to be done in the classroom in

order to build healthy individuals, and whatshould be measured. The only issue is that

most young people are in the classroom

for seven hours or less each day, essentially

leaving over half the day unaccounted for.



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This isnt a new problem. Educational

experts and research professionals

across the country have devoted

themselves to finding non-academicindicators of success for young people.

They argue that student success is the

result of much more than test scores and

attendance sheets. Their work has been

pivotal in many new initiatives geared

towards building non-academic skills inand outside the classroom.

However, when the Youthprise Youth

Research Innovators began investigating

the problem, it became clear that we

were looking through the wrong lens.It seemed as though most of the efforts

specialized towards building better

students were just that, specialized.

Beyond that, these efforts still focused

on producing better students, not better

human beings. The goal, while noble,

was still too focused on the academic.

This led our team to take a more criticalapproach to our research in order to

find out first, what young people believe

success and well being are, and second,

what they need to attain that.

In April, Youthprise gathered five

young peoplefrom various backgrounds

to serve as Research Innovators. Our

first goal: to question our friends,

peers and each other to find out what

exactly we needed and wanted from our

teachers and mentors to ensure we weresuccessful in school and in life.



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We established early on that wewould

use our age and inexperience as tools,

not weaknesses. We knew that being

the subject of research had commonlybeen a traumatic experience for many

young people and we knew that in

order to build trust with participants,

we would have to draw them from our

own communities and have candid

conversations with people our own age.It was tough going at first. None of the

Innovators had experience running focus

groups or doing interviews.

So we built around what we knew.

All of ushad played groupgames before, and we all knew what

a respectful conversation did not look

like. That seemed like a good place to

start. We built our space around having

a good time, good food and good

conversation.

By approaching the focus groups

on equal terms, the responses flowedfreely and organically.

The results were very interesting.

While we cant provide any names

or even the context within which some

of these topics were broached, we feel

that mentioning them will help paint a

picture of the battles young people face

every day. For example, we discovered

that having your cultural identity

represented in your mentor is much

more than just an issue of diversity. Wefound that it was very easy to be pushed

to the wayside, even, and sometimes

especially, in school, if youre not



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particularly outspoken. And contrary to

what many adults may believe, young

people are aware and concerned about

the messages being put forth through

popular media. These messages could

also have a large effect on self-esteem,

day-to-day decision-making and even

the formulation of ones thoughts and

opinions over time.The work we did over the summer is a

glimpse into some of the ideas that drive

Youthprise. Through the formation of the

Research Team and other opportunities

for young people weve found that young

people studying young people is not as

outlandish as it sounds. As a matter of

fact, it might be a great idea.

Young people

are aware and

concerned about

the messages

being put forth

through popularmedia.

Article Co-Author:

Jorge RivasYouth Innovator

Article Co-Author:

Shanell McCoyYouth Innovator



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Wallace Foundation

Invests in ResearchThe WallaceFoundationis a nationalphilanthropy that

seeks to improve education and

enrichment for disadvantaged children.They develop and test promisingideas on the ground, study the results,research related issues and share whattheyve learned broadly to help improvechildrens lives. Wallace is a majorfunder of Sprockets, Saint Pauls OST

Network.Recently, Wallace made a majorinvestment to commission researchon non-cognitive factors like grit and

perseverance that contribute to youthsuccess. Undertaken by the Universityof Chicago Consortium on ChicagoSchool Research (UChicago CCSR), theproject will identify the non-cognitive

factors related to success in college andthe workplace, define how these factorsenable success in young adulthood,and highlight how these factors maydiffer among youth from differentbackground. A subsequent phase of thework will examine how non-cognitive

factors are shaped at home, school andin afterschool programs. Conveningsto share the research are planned forsummer 2014.



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Contact Uswith any feedback or questions

Karen KingsleyDirector of Public Policyand Communications


Lizzy ShramkoCommunications Associate


Alyssa RoachYouth Innovator Contact

[email protected]

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Youthprise Newsflash: January 2014