Evaluation/Capstones

Measured Outcomes (U of M Impact Study)

• High school measures: attendance, grades, standardized test scores, and grades

• College readiness: post-secondary admissions and/or placement tests, on-track for HS graduation, post-secondary acceptance and/or enrollment.

• College persistence and completion.

• Employment participation, earnings, job type and stability.

Application Process Recommendations for Minneapolis' STEP-UP Program (MPA Capstone Paper, July 2012)

Problems with STEP-UP Application process

• Deadline too early: youth might not be focused on job acquisition that early, or may have alternative plans between deadline and job start.

• Application process might not be succeeding in assessing youth skills and work readiness to place them in the appropriate training and employment situations. Face-to-face meetings necessary to provide appropriate placement and STEP-UP places students in tracts before the first chance for an interview.

• Application has limited amount of information about workplace skills and life experiences. Some partners felt that the application should provide information about employment skills, including resume writing and interviewing, in order to tailor training.

• Does not reveal whether youth have other important soft skills (communication, respect, motivation, attentiveness, values), accomplishments (informal community or family responsibilities), or barriers to participation (family responsibilities, other employment, transportation issues, disabilities, cultural norms). Weights on the scoring may not indicate work success (attitudinal and motivational factors are likely more relevant than specific skills). Students might not be able to self-access.

• Information on application and process was not always provided to trainers.

• Limited transparency with the application process for youth. Timing of applications, criteria for evaluating placement, and age restrictions. What can youth expect with training and matching? What is the process? Limited opportunity for kids to advance since placement counselors might not be aware of past history.

Recommendation 1: Operationally streamline the initial application process

• Strategy 1: Restructuring the initial application to be a determinant of eligibility rather than a work readiness assessment

• Strategy 2: Revising timeframe for the application deadline

• Strategy 3: Continue to encourage greater use of on-line applications

• Strategy 4: Applications should be acted upon on a rolling basis.

Recommendation 2: Create a greater understanding of youth needs to facilitate a more meaningful experience for youth during the application process

• Strategy 1: Prior to youth training, meet with each youth for the purposes of completing work documents, a preference sheet

• Strategy 2: Utilize an evidence-based assessment tool to evaluate youth as a part of the process for determining job placement.

• Strategy 3: Base the job internship match on the face-to-face meeting, the employability assessment, prior youth experiences, and the preference document.

• Strategy 4: Increase collection of data, which allows the ability to track youth, year after year.

• Strategy 5: Consider engaging additional partners to aid in meeting with youth.

Recommendation 3: Create a more cohesive and comprehensive training plan between METP and AchieveMpls

• Strategy 1: Ladder youth training sessions based on age.

• Strategy 2: All training sessions need to incorporate the learning of soft skills, which are essential to successful employment (communication, flexibility, adaptability, responsibility, and professionalism)

• Strategy 3: Create an Advisory Board composed of key stakeholders (youth, parents, employers, the U of M, etc.) to advise on training content.

Youth at the Center: A Meta-Evaluation of the STEP-UP Program (MPA/MPP Capstone Paper, May 2012)

List of Recommendations

• Adopt one vision with youth at the center: combining work readiness for youth and workforce development for employers

  • Design STEP-UP as a youth-centered, developmental continuum

• Accept all low-income youth

  • Implement a multi-tiered approach

  • Employ laddering

  • Expand the portfolio of internships

  • Address silos and creaming

• Improve program elements

  • Redesign the application process

  • Hold all training in post-secondary settings

  • Improve training curriculum

  • Lengthen mock interview sessions

  • Change DEED placement process to better match youth to internships

  • Divide CLASS groups by age and skill level

  • Engage families

  • Introduce adult mentors

  • Consider a cohort model

Philadelphia Youth Network Multi-Tiered Approach

• Service learning organizes youth into teams that provide a community service. This experience is for those with no work experience who need work-readiness skills

• Work experience is offered to youth with little or no work experience. Activities combine a work experience with work-readiness and academic training.

• Internships are offered to those youth who have work experience and some preparation for more rigorous employment.

Recommendations on handbook

• Module 1: What STEP-UP is all about

• Module 2: How to Decide What Job You Want

• Module 3: How to Write a Resume

• Module 4: How to Answer Interview Questions

• Module 5: How to Prepare for Your First Day on the Job

• Module 6: Do’s and Don’ts on the Job