The U.Va. Center to Promote Effective Youth Development Speaking Truth to Policy: The Importance of Quality Educational and Human Developmental Research Patrick Tolan Ph.D. Youth-Nex Center, University of Virginia 2013 Steele Symposium College of Education & Human Development University of Delaware April 12, 2013
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Speaking Truth to Policy: The Importance of Quality Educational and Human Developmental Research
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The U.Va. Center to Promote Effective Youth Development
Speaking Truth to Policy: The Importance of Quality Educational
and Human Developmental Research
Patrick Tolan Ph.D.
Youth-Nex Center, University of Virginia
2013 Steele Symposium
College of Education & Human Development
University of Delaware April 12, 2013
The U.Va. Center to Promote Effective Youth Development
YOUTH-NEX Mission
• Promote Healthy Youth Development • Reduce Risk & Prevent Problems in Development
• Through Focused Research, Training and Service
• For Integrated Multidimensional Understanding of Youth Development
• To Facilitated and Enhance Potential of Youth as Healthy Productive Citizens
The U.Va. Center to Promote Effective Youth Development
How Do We Get Directions on
Questions about Youth Development?
• School Size• Teacher/Classroom Qualities?• Early Intervention Help?• Focus on High Risk or All?
The U.Va. Center to Promote Effective Youth Development
In Search of the One Armed Scientist
RESEARCH• Theory• Variables• Incremental• Conservative• Qualify Results• Not Wrong
POLICY• Politics• People• Binary• Resolute• Emphasize Certainty• Not Wrong
The U.Va. Center to Promote Effective Youth Development
Research is Our Best Hope for Good Policy
The U.Va. Center to Promote Effective Youth Development
The facts are coming! The facts are coming!
The U.Va. Center to Promote Effective Youth Development
Two Examples:
SAFE CHILDREN
GREAT SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES
The U.Va. Center to Promote Effective Youth Development
Can Early Support Help Children in High Risk Neighborhoods Succeed?
• Family Groups with Parents of Entering First Graders
• Tutoring 1/2 hour, 2 x per week on Reading Mastery
• Across 8.5 months (16 family sessions, 22 tutoring)
• Booster for half of treatment in fourth grade
The U.Va. Center to Promote Effective Youth Development
Reduces Delinquency F(2,318) = 5.28, p=.005
Low Family Risk Hi Family Risk0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
ControlInitial Only2Initial + Booster
p < .01 p < .01
The U.Va. Center to Promote Effective Youth Development
Improves Graduation Rates
• Control: 35%• Early Only: 40%• Early Plus Booster: 44%
Booster increases Graduation Rate by 29%
The U.Va. Center to Promote Effective Youth Development
Multisite Violence Prevention Project(MVPP)
Efficacy of Universal Versus Selective Approaches to Youth
Violence Prevention
The U.Va. Center to Promote Effective Youth Development
Collaborating Groups
UGA VCU Duke
The U.Va. Center to Promote Effective Youth Development
Early Adolescence/Middle School as Time of Increasing Risk Level and
Prevalence• Increased Risks• Decreased Support for Development• Increased Beliefs/Values Supporting Problem
Behavior and Lower School Affiliation• Rise of Social Group as Most Influential
The U.Va. Center to Promote Effective Youth Development