NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Back to results
ERIC Number: ED521110
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Jun
Pages: 108
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Staying on Course: Three-Year Results of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Evaluation
Millenky, Megan; Bloom, Dan; Muller-Ravett, Sara; Broadus, Joseph
MDRC
High school dropouts face an uphill battle in a labor market that increasingly rewards skills and postsecondary credentials: they are more likely than their peers to need public assistance, be arrested or incarcerated, and less likely to marry. This report presents results from a rigorous evaluation of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program, an intensive residential program that aims to "reclaim the lives of at-risk youth" who have dropped out. More than 100,000 young people have completed the program since it was launched in the early 1990s. MDRC is conducting the evaluation in collaboration with the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Transitions to Adulthood. Key findings from the survey include: (1) Members of the program group were much more likely than those in the control group to have obtained a General Educational Development (GED) certificate or a high school diploma and to have earned college credits; (2) Members of the program group were more likely to be employed at the time of the survey, and they earned about 20 percent more than their control group counterparts in the year before the survey; and (3) There were few statistically significant differences between groups on measures of crime, delinquency, health, or lifestyle outcomes. These results are impressive; few programs for dropouts have produced sustained positive impacts. Appended are: (1) Analyses of Survey Response Bias; (2) Life Skills and Civic Engagement Outcomes; and (3) Unweighted Outcomes. And yet, both the survey and a series of in-depth telephone interviews with ChalleNGe graduates suggest that many young people struggled to maintain momentum after leaving the residential program and returning home, where they had relatively few supports and also faced unusually challenging labor market conditions. ChalleNGe may want to experiment with ways to bolster its postresidential services to provide more support during this difficult transition. (Contains 3 figures, 25 tables, 3 boxes and 56 footnotes.) [For "Staying on Course: Three-Year Results of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Evaluation. Executive Summary," see ED521116.]
MDRC. 16 East 34th Street 19th Floor, New York, NY 10016-4326. Tel: 212-532-3200; Fax: 212-684-0832; e-mail: publications@mdrc.org; Web site: http://www.mdrc.org
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education; High School Equivalency Programs; High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: US Department of Defense; Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Charles Stewart Mott Foundation; Edna McConnell Clark Foundation; John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; MCJ Foundation; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Authoring Institution: MDRC
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A