For young people, connecting to the world of work during this important period can strengthen their confidence and ties to the labor market and set them on a secure and fulfilling career pathway. Focusing on young people in the workforce is also a win for employers, who can tap into a broader pool of talent. Tackling youth unemployment also…

New energy, new evidence, and an emerging consensus on how learning happens have created a remarkable opportunity to galvanize widespread adoption of a whole child approach. However, messages about how learning happens are often obscured by confusion over terminology, weakening the field's overall ability to tell a compelling story about social,…

"Where Do We Go Next?" explores three interconnected areas of young people's lives that have been particularly salient over the past year and are fundamental to supporting their learning and growth in the future. Those three areas are young people's sense of wellbeing, including their mental health and relationships; their opportunities…

The State of Youth Employment is the second segment of a research series focused on understanding the experiences, assets, and conditions that shape young people's career development. Finding a Way Forward--a 2020 exploratory study based on interviews with young people across the country--yielded several findings about how young people experience…

"Finding a Way Forward: Young People's Experiences Navigating the World of Work" presents findings from a new qualitative study that explores specific questions about work and careers from the perspectives of 65 young adult participants in five career pathways programs across the country. Grounded in the key components of the YES…

This is the executive summary for the report, "Finding a Way Forward: Young People's Experiences Navigating the World of Work." It presents findings from a new qualitative study that explores specific questions about work and careers from the perspectives of 65 young adult participants in five career pathways programs across the country.…

The public health crisis created by the spread of COVID-19 has disrupted day-to-day rhythms across the United States, including an extended closure of school buildings. Myriad news sources and emerging research are reporting on the deep and disparate effects that are reverberating from these closures. But how do young people themselves perceive…

The novel virus caused by COVID-19 has disrupted life across the country and led to nationwide school closures. In the midst of this disruption and uncertainty, young people, teachers, parents, and other youth-serving professionals are working in new and creative ways to support young people's education. In the interest of understanding how young…

Trauma can impair young people's healthy development and ability to learn. Trauma refers to an adverse experience or pattern of experiences that overwhelms a person's internal capacity to cope and contributes to a feeling of powerlessness. To promote both healthy development and positive educational outcomes for youth, youth-serving professionals,…

Over the past several years, a growing consensus has emerged across a range of disciplines--including brain science, developmental psychology, and education research--about how learning happens. The latest science now aligns with what educators, youth-supporting adults, parents, and caregivers have known for a long time: successful learning…

Ready, Connected, Supported: A Framework for Youth Workforce Development and the YES Project, a working paper from the Center for Promise--the research arm of America's Promise Alliance--provides an overview of the "Ready, Connected, Supported" framework--the backbone of America's Promise Alliance's YES Project, a national campaign to…

Relationships matter. What seems to be a simple truth continues to present a challenge--and significant opportunity--for those who work with youth. Research has repeatedly shown that positive relationships are an important catalyst for success, but often there's a gap between the relationships young people say they need and the relationships that…

Learning depends on the social, emotional, physical, & mental health of students. This resource shares policy recommendations to transform disjointed resources for children into potent systems of integrated student support. The systems that come together to support young people's learning and development include schools, community…

Leaving school without graduating presents a significant challenge for young people and for society as a whole. One way communities and school systems are responding to this challenge is with coordinated efforts to re-engage young people in ways that make it more likely for them to earn a diploma. Re-engagement efforts vary across the country but…

Many teachers do not receive the support necessary to simultaneously teach and respond appropriately to challenging student behavior. The systems in place are often purely reactive and lack a preventative component to address challenging behavior. The Center for Promise examined exclusionary discipline in Minnesota by speaking with young people…