NCJ Number
185249
Date Published
October 2000
Length
156 pages
Annotation
This report presents the findings of the national summative
evaluation of the Pathways to Success Demonstration Project,
which is a special-emphasis juvenile delinquency prevention
program.
Abstract
The project was designed to accomplish two key objectives. One
objective is to provide at-risk youth with a variety of
age-appropriate programs in vocational, entrepreneurial,
recreational, and arts education fields that allow them to build
on existing strengths and develop new skills during non-school hours. The second objective is to provide and promote
coordinated, collaborative prevention efforts that target at-risk
youth. The national evaluation involved both a formative
evaluation and a summative evaluation. The formative evaluation
was conducted during the second program year (1996-97) and was
designed to collect information on program implementation and
operations at each of the four participating sites to document
key program characteristics and to help interpret the summative
evaluation results. The summative evaluation was conducted during
the third program year (1997-98) and was designed to assess
whether the Pathways programs had a positive effect on the
knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of program participants.
Although the four continually funded Pathways sites shared the
same delinquency prevention goals they used different
implementation strategies, served different target populations,
provided different types of activities, and emphasized different
expected program outcomes. The summative evaluation found that
the majority of participants maintained or showed improvement in
their program-related skills (e.g., communication with adults and
peers, cooperation with others, completing tasks, and
participating in sessions) by the end of the program. Also, most
program participants (50 percent or more) either maintained or
achieved favorable attitude and behavior scores by the end of the
program period. In addition, many of the participants showed
noticeable improvement in their grade-point average during the
program period and expressed a greater interest in and increased
commitment to school. Lessons learned thus far are also noted.
Extensive exhibits and appended program materials
Date Published: October 1, 2000