Making Every Day Count: Boys & Girls Clubs' Role in Promoting Positive Outcomes for Teens Executive Summary

This executive summary highlights the main findings from P/PV's three-year study of the role Boys & Girls Clubs play in the lives of the youth they serve. Drawing on several sources of data -- surveys of a low-income, ethnically diverse sample of approximately 320 youth (starting when they were seventh and eighth graders and following them into the ninth and tenth grades), Club attendance records over a 30-month period, and in-depth interviews with a sample of ninth graders -- we investigated the relationship between participation and three outcome areas identified by Boys & Girls Clubs of America as central to its mission: good character and citizenship, academic success and healthy lifestyles

Making Every Day Count: Boys & Girls Clubs' Role in Promoting Positive Outcomes for Teens

The third in a series of reports from P/PV's three-year study of the role Boys & Girls Clubs play in the lives of the youth they serve, Making Every Day Count examines how Club participation is related to youth's positive and healthy development in three outcome areas identified by Boys & Girls Clubs of America as central to its mission: good character and citizenship, academic success and healthy lifestyles.The report draws on several sources of data -- surveys of a low-income, ethnically diverse sample of approximately 320 youth (starting when they were seventh and eighth graders and following them into the ninth and tenth grades), Club attendance records over a 30-month period, and in-depth interviews with a sample of ninth graders -- to investigate the relationship between participation and outcomes. The findings show that teens who had higher levels of participation in the Clubs experienced greater positive change on 15 of 31 outcomes examined, including increases in integrity (knowing right from wrong) and academic confidence, decreases in incidents of skipping school, and a lower likelihood of starting to carry a weapon or use marijuana or alcohol.Qualitative data bolster these findings, providing insights from youth and staff about the practices and strategies that support the influence of the Club, as a whole, on youth's lives. The data suggest that there is a confluence of things the Clubs are doing right to serve teens and sustain their connection to the Club as they transition from middle school to high school. Interviewed staff and the teens spoke about the overall Club environment, the safe place it provides and the role of interactions with supportive adults and peers as crucial -- and, in their view, more important than specific programming -- in helping promote teens' positive development.The findings from the evaluation offer a promising picture of the role Clubs can play in the lives of teens; they also point to valuable lessons for the larger out-of-school-time field, where there is increasing interest in the question of how to effectively engage teens -- a population that has been critically underserved in many low-income communities

Launching Literacy in After-School Programs: Early Lessons from the CORAL Initiative

The James Irvine Foundation launched the Communities Organizing Resources to Advance Learning (CORAL) initiative in 1999 with the goal of improving the academic achievement of children in the lowest-performing schools in five California cities. In 2004, CORAL adopted a more targeted approach toward reaching this goal by integrating a regular schedule of literacy instruction into its after-school programs. This interim report, based on research conducted between Fall 2004 and Summer 2005, documents CORALs progress toward implementing high-quality and consistent literacy programming. The report presents early results in terms of youths positive reading gains and describes the program components that appear to have contributed to these gains. It also identifies challenges CORAL sites faced and successful strategies for addressing those challenges

The Relevance of the Biopic Krotoa (2017): A Mis-Representation of History?

This dissertation examines the representation the Khoi woman Krotoa in the film of the same name directed by Roberta Durrant (2017). It draws on scholarship by Pamela Scully (2005) and Julia C. Wells (1997), who argue that Krotoa adapted well to her circumstances, following the arrival of Jan Van Riebeeck at the Cape in 1652. Krotoa used her gender to influence Van Riebeeck's decision-making, regarding trade relations with the Khoi people. This thesis shows these views to be complicated and contested, especially considering evidence of victimisation and sexual assault of indigenous women by colonial authorities – as Pamela Scully (2005) has noted. Yvette Abrahams (1996) also wrote that Krotoa's alcoholism indicated some form of trauma. Simultaneously, indigenous people were also stereotyped based on race. They were deemed immoral and generally inferior to Europeans. These ideologies were perpetuated by European writings on encounters with indigenous people, as scholars like Nicholas Hudson (2004) write. Additionally, indigenous women such as Sarah Baartman, were perceived by Europeans as sexually deviant and hyper-sexual – as written by Zine Magubane (2001). It is for this reason therefore, that issues of identity, sexuality and gender are significant to this study on, Krotoa (2017). Furthermore, in bringing together the narratives of Sarah Baartman and Krotoa, it emphasizes how indigenous women have been marginalised and abused within a colonial society. Critical analysis of the film indicates that history has been distorted by the way Krotoa is represented. This was largely due to the perception that the film is told from the perspective of a ‘white' man, as Rusana Philander (2017) discusses. Moreover, due to the extent to which Durrant's film has been influenced by the past, I argue that Krotoa is mis-represented – both in history and in her representation on-screen

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationThe clay till of Sarnia and fractured bedrock of Smithvilie, Ontario provide wellcharacterized groundwater systems in which to examine the diffusive transport and crustal degassing of helium. Although poorly defined in the literature, the application of effective diffusion coefficients accurately describes the transport of 4He in geologic media and is examined at both sites. In addition, the sites provide an opportunity to determine the crustal degassing flux in shallow groundwater systems for comparison to large sedimentary basins. The effective diffusion coefficients of 4He in clay till and fractured shale are examined by numerical simulation of measured groundwater 4He concentrations at both sites. Effective diffusion coefficients of 6.3 x 10"6 cm2/s and 1.48 x 10'7 cm2/s were determined for the clay till and the Rochester Shale, respectively. A mass balance of methane substantiates that diffusion is the primary means of mass transport through the shale and define a CH4 effective diffusion coefficient of 3.7 x 1CT8 cm2/s. The model results emphasize the importance of applying an effective diffusion coefficient to describe the transport of helium through geologic media. The internal release rates and degassing fluxes are determined for both sites. The He degassing fluxes out of the clay till (2.7 x 108 atoms4He/m2/s) and Rochester Shale (1.22 -1.70 x 108 atoms4He/m2/s) are similar to the crustal degassing fluxes reported in the literature. The results of this study suggest the importance of the release of stored helium to the crustal degassing flux. Furthermore, the results indicate that a significant percentage of ancient stored helium is released to the atmosphere during erosional processes that cause grain size reduction and are not measurable in groundwater. A new dissolved gas sampling method was developed to permit sample collection from small diameter peizometers and/or low permeability units. The results of field and laboratory analysis indicate that the samplers equilibrate in -8 hours in advection-dominated systems, and within two weeks in a controlled diffusion-dominated system. The samplers allow for high quality dissolved gas samples with minimal effort, time, and expense. The samplers eliminate sample loss and contamination common to other methods of obtaining dissolved gas samples

Policy advocacy organizations: A framework linking theory and practice

The practice of policy advocacy by organizations has outpaced its theoretical development. Yet the importance of a theoretical grounding for advocacy campaigns has increased with the need for accountability and an understanding of advocates\u27 contributions to policy development. This article synthesizes practitioner and academic literature on policy advocacy and proposes a conceptual framework of policy advocacy inputs, activities, and outcomes. Five distinct advocacy strategies are hypothesized: enhancing a democratic environment, applying public pressure, influencing decision makers, direct reform, and implementation change. This framework provides guidelines for organizations to strategically engage policy processes, while directing a research agenda on advocacy organizations

Beyond Safe Havens: A Synthesis of 20 Years of Research on the Boys & Girls Clubs, Full Report

P/PV recently launched a multiyear study to understand the role that Boys & Girls Clubsplay in the lives of early adolescents. Beyond Safe Havens, a prelude to the larger study, reviews the range of evaluations that have been conducted on Boys & Girls Clubs over the past 20 years. The report identifies the potential benefits of the many discrete programs provided by Clubs and discusses three additional studies that examined the broader club experience. It also outlines the strategies that seem to have contributed to the Clubs' successes, as well as any challenges that may have impeded more positive results. The report concludes with a brief description of a planned longitudinal evaluation of Club members as they transition to high school -- an evaluation meant to provide documentation of the effect of teens' broad Club experiences on a wide range of outcomes

Beyond Safe Havens: A Synthesis of 20 Years of Research on the Boys & Girls Clubs, Executive Summary

P/PV recently launched a multiyear study to understand the role that Boys & Girls Clubs play in the lives of early adolescents. Beyond Safe Havens, a prelude to the larger study, reviews the range of evaluations that have been conducted on Boys & Girls Clubs over the past 20 years. This Executive Summary provides a brief outline of the full Beyond Safe Havens report. Specifically, it identifies the potential benefits of the many discrete programs provided by Clubs and discusses three additional studies that examined the broader club experience. The Summary also outlines the strategies that seem to have contributed to the Clubs successes, as well as any challenges that may have impeded more positive results. The Summary concludes with a brief description of a planned longitudinal evaluation of Club members as they transition to high schoolan evaluation meant to provide documentation of the effect of teens broad Club experiences on a wide range of outcomes