Tag Archives: Positive Youth Development

Critical Considerations in a Capability Focused Approach to Intervention Design and Evaluation – YN Panel Video

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Nancy Deutsch

Related posts available under YN Working Conference April 2012

View the video for this discussion looking at methods, broadly and integratively, through a Positive Youth Development lens.

Panelists used four guiding questions:
1. How do we bring in developmental theory as we design evaluations of programs? Specifically, how do we relate Positive Youth Development processes and constructs to expected outcomes. How do we resolve the tension between evaluating competencies— promotion, and measuring problem behavior—prevention? Continue reading →

Psychology Conference Focuses on Youth Organizing and Desegregation

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By Valerie Futch, Postdoctoral Fellow at Youth-Nex.

Related posts are available under Conferences, Research

Changing Societies

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the 9th biennial conference of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (APA Division 9). The theme for the conference was “Changing Societies: Learning From and For Research, Social Action, and Policy.“ As part of the presidential programming, I had the great fortune to organize an invited panel on desegregation stories in the South and chair an invited panel on youth organizing for educational engagement and justice. These two panels turned out to be just one of many that featured youth development and youth organizing throughout the conference. Continue reading →

Youth-Nex and CASTL Researchers Compete in Annual Sloboda Bukoski Cup

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By Angela Henneberger, recent Curry graduate and YN researcher (PhD, Applied Developmental Science, ’12)

Valerie Futch, Angela Henneberger, Peter Lovegrove, and Michelle Maier

Valerie Futch, Angela Henneberger, Peter Lovegrove, Michelle Maier (not pictured: Ross Larsen, Chris Hafen)

The 2012 annual Society for Prevention Research (SPR) convention was held on May 29–June 1, 2012 at the Hyatt Regency in Washington, DC.  It is very exciting to me that the theme of this year’s conference was “Promoting Healthy Living Through Prevention Science.”  This Spring, I had the opportunity to attend the Youth-Nex summit, a gathering of prominent researchers in the field of prevention and positive youth development. Continue reading →

Youth-Nex JPC Team travels to NYC Research Institute

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Sibley presents the work to the group.

Sibley presents the work to the group.

Related posts available under Research, and Community.

I had the privilege of spending the last week with a great group of undergraduate researchers and my colleagues at the Public Science Project for their annual Critical Participatory Action Research (PAR) Institute. Thanks to a grant from UVA’s Jefferson Public Citizens program, we were able to bring our community partner, Sibley Johns, director of Charlottesville’s Music Resource Center with us to brainstorm our youth PAR evaluation project that begins this summer.

Continue reading →

Improving PYD Interventions – YN Panel Video

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Jeanne Brooks-Gunn

Related posts available under YN Working Conference April 2012

We’re lucky enough to have captured on video the Youth-Nex Working Conference —where six panels and 23 scholars congregated to further scientific understanding of how to promote effective youth development through the Positive Youth Development (PYD) lens.

Be a part of the discussion chaired by Jeanne Brooks-Gunn: “Learning from Prevention Science and Developmental-Intervention Approaches to Improve PYD Interventions and Evaluations.”  We welcome your comments.  Video.

In the light of the need to provide research and action that integrates PYD into what we already know, Dr. Tolan recently posited: Continue reading →

YN Gathers Experts to Tackle Bullying at Two Conferences This June

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By Dewey Cornell, Clinical Psychologist, Professor of Education, and Youth-Nex Associate Director, Curry School of Education, University of Virginia.

High School Students walk toward a bus

Related posts will be found under Bullying.

In the past decade, bullying has become recognized as a pervasive problem in schools. Our research at the University of Virginia has highlighted the importance of creating a positive school climate that is conducive to healthy peer interactions and supportive teacher-student relationships. A positive youth development perspective offers new strategies and perspectives on the prevention of bullying and the facilitation of emotional and academic development.

The conferences are designed to bring together some of the nation’s leading experts to give us an understanding of effective principles and practices and to advance the best scientific work in the field. New findings from these experts will be presented at the conference. Continue reading →

Improving Outcomes for English Language Learners

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By Valerie Futch, postdoctoral fellow at Youth-Nex studying adolescent
identity development, and more.

Valerie Futch
Related posts will be found under Works In Progress Meetings

English language learners (ELLs) are a very diverse and ever-increasing population of students. They may face many challenges while learning a new language and navigating the educational system, but there are also many opportunities for them. Continue reading →

What Really Causes Teen Driving Accidents?

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Ann LambertCars driving on a road

By Ann Lambert, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Psychology and Behavioral Medicine Center, Dept of Psychiatry & NB Sciences

Related posts will be found under Driving

Vehicular collisions are the leading cause of death in adolescence, a statistic often attributed to lack of experience and “poor judgment.” Nonetheless, a significant subgroup of drivers pass through adolescence with no vehicular collisions or citations despite minimal driving experience. What, then, are these young drivers doing right? Continue reading →

Rick Little – ‘serial social entrepreneur’ speaks to YN Conference

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Rick Little
Related posts available under YN Working Conference April 2012

I was fortunate enough to be able to hear Rick Little deliver the keynote address at the Youth-Nex working conference dinner on April 2. My impression of Mr. Little, when my colleague and I assisted him with some logistics earlier in the day, was that he was a very kind and unassuming man. The arrangements were the type that would have exasperated even the most restrained among us. Through it all, however, Little remained unfazed and affable. This was only a glimpse into his profound humanity, as I learned about the scope of his accomplishments and significance of his work during his talk later that evening. (The talk is posted at end of this entry.)

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Optimal Targets for PYD Intervention – Panel Video

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Patrick Tolan

Related posts available under YN Working Conference April 2012

We’ve been posting a lot about the Youth-Nex Working Conference held in April. Now you can view the discussion. Here’s the first of the panel videos with an introduction by Patrick Tolan: “Identifying the Fundamental PYD Processes Affecting Development: Optimal Targets for Intervention.” Distinguished panelists are: Stephen Hamilton (chair), Richard Catalano, Richard Lerner, Anne Petersen, and Margaret Spencer. More panel video to come. View Video