Nancy L. Deutsch

Capturing the magic: Assessing the quality of youth mentoring relationships

Mentoring programs pose some special challenges for quality assessment because they operate at two levels: that of the dyadic relationship and that of the program. Fully assessing the quality of youth mentoring relationships requires understanding the characteristics and processes of individual relationships, which are the point of service for mentoring. Yet we also must consider the program components that support their development. A number of factors have been indicated to contribute to quality mentoring relationships, including frequency and consistency of contact, feelings of connection between mentor and protégé, and the mentors approach. Program features linked with quality relationships include mentor screening and training and expectations for frequency of contact. Assessing the quality of the relationship directly requires measuring both the mentors and protégés perceptions of important dimensions of the relationship, such as goals, engagement, and closeness. Single-point-in-time surveys or interviews, using both validated measures and open-ended questions, may be used as tools for assessing individual relationships at the conclusion of programs. Short surveys, logs, and observations may be useful for periodic or ongoing assessment of quality for support and intervention purposes. Focus groups and surveys of mentors may also provide useful information for assessing program components needed to support the development and maintenance of high quality relationships. The benefits and drawbacks of each of these methods for assessing relational quality are discussed. Mentoring programs are provided with references for specific tools that may be used to assess relational quality.

Inner-City Youth Development Organizations: Strengthening Programs for Adolescent Girls.

The challenges of early adolescence are intensified for girls of color who live in disadvantaged urban communities. One response to the needs of these girls comes from the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA), a youth development organization that has a long-standing presence in inner-city neighborhoods. A gender equity initiative designed to strengthen programming for minority girls at a BGCA affiliate in a major urban center was examined. Drawing on initial qualitative findings, a conceptual framework is presented for understanding the ways in which the clubs can affect urban early adolescent girls’ self-esteem. Several strategic choices confronting this initiative then are considered. The authors emphasize the creation of a “home place“ that enables the development of self via organizational responsiveness to girls’ voices, strong bonds between girls and staff, adaptive peer friendship cliques, and the development of programs that fuse the interests of girls and adult staff.

Relational strategies in after-school settings: How staff-youth relationships support positive development

Staff–youth relationships are a key strength of after-school settings, though more research is needed to understand the actual processes whereby these interpersonal connections lead to beneficial outcomes. This qualitative study focuses on the relational strategies that staff employ within an urban youth organization, and the ways in which those strategies contribute to a positive developmental climate. Researchers observed staff–youth interactions for a year and conducted a series of interviews with 17 youth between the ages of 12 and 18. We found three specific relational strategies that staff used to develop relationships with youth. These were minimizing relational distance, active inclusion, and attention to proximal relational ties. These strategies contribute to an overall supportive culture, suggesting a relational pedagogy in this after-school setting. The staff–youth relationships serve as the foundation for both youth engagement in programs and the promotion of positive developmental outcomes.

Aspiring, Consuming, Becoming: Youth Identity in a Culture of Consumption.

This article focuses on how consumerism, as a social ideology, and consumption, as an individual activity, are used by adolescents to mark and mask differences in the process of identity construction. Data are drawn from an ethnographic study of urban youth. The act of consuming for the adolescents in this study forms an integral part of their identity performance across the intersectionality of the self ’s experience of gender, race, and class. For females in this study, consumption is linked to gender performances based on the maintenance of an attractive and fashionable appearance as dictated by social perceptions of femininity. Girls’ future aspirations are indirectly associated to consumptive acts through the ambition for financial emancipation. Consuming, or aspiring to consuming, for males in this study facilitates the achievement of a morality realized through the fulfillment of male responsibility toward the traditionally perceived “dependent” members of the family: mother, wife, and children.

Starting from Ground Zero: Constraints and Experiences of Adult Women Returning to College

Women adult students face particular constraints when pursuing degrees. This paper uses focus group data to explore the educational pathways, barriers, and supports of women students. Womens educations are shaped by personal and structural gendered forces, including family, economic, and workplace issues. Women report conflict over short-term sacrifices versus long-term gain for their families and experience stress from the competing demands of family and school roles. They also rely on families for support. When families and academic communities value the student role, women are better able to balance their roles and cope with the stress of returning to school.

Combining Mentoring With Structured Group Activities A Potential After-School Context for Fostering Relationships Between Girls and Mentors

The current study explores the potential of one-on-one mentoring facilitated within a structured group format for developing connection and sustaining mentor-mentee relationships with early adolescent girls. Results from a mixed-methods study using survey and observational data reveal that college student mentors and their seventh grade mentees report moderate-to-high satisfaction with the group experience, with no mean differences between groups. Yet there were significant differences between groups in the group members’ (mentees) satisfaction with their one-on-one mentoring relationships. Although all groups demonstrated high levels of some positive social processes related to connectedness (e.g., fun), groups in which mentees’ reported higher levels of satisfaction with their one-on-one relationships engaged in more higher level positive social processes (e.g., caretaking). Groups in which mentee’s reported lower satisfaction with their one-on-one relationships demonstrated more negative social processes (e.g., disengagement). Implications for after-school settings are discussed.

Setting-level influences on implementation of the responsive classroom approach.

We used mixed methods to examine the association between setting-level factors and observed implementation of a social and emotional learning intervention (Responsive Classroom® approach; RC). In study 1 (N = 33 3rd grade teachers after the first year of RC implementation), we identified relevant setting-level factors and uncovered the mechanisms through which they related to implementation. In study 2 (N = 50 4th grade teachers after the second year of RC implementation), we validated our most salient Study 1 finding across multiple informants. Findings suggested that teachers perceived setting-level factors, particularly principal buy-in to the intervention and individualized coaching, as influential to their degree of implementation. Further, we found that intervention coaches’ perspectives of principal buy-in were more related to implementation than principals’ or teachers’ perspectives. Findings extend the application of setting theory to the field of implementation science and suggest that interventionists may want to consider particular accounts of school setting factors before determining the likelihood of schools achieving high levels of implementation.

The transmission of values to school-age and young adult offspring: Race and gender differences in parenting

Abstract The current study explores parental socialization practices and the values transmitted to school-aged and young adult offspring, focusing on race and gender issues involved in parental teachings. A community sample of 187 black and hite mothers and fathers ere intervieed with regards to their parenting practices using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Higher levels of social concern and other-oriented themes in teachings ere found among black parents, in contrast to a higher prevalence of individualistic themes among hite parents. Interactions with child gender and age revealed that parents ere more likely to mention individualistic skills and less likely to mention concern for others to older rather than younger daughters, with a reverse pattern found for sons. Parents remain active teachers in the lives of their children beyond the first and second decades of life, instilling skills and values shaped by ethnicity and gender. Comparison of socialization practices beteen racial groups reveals a notable capacity of black parents to promote personal development as ell as societal ell-being.

Social and Identity Development in an After-School Program: Changing Experiences and Shifting Adolescent Needs

The negotiation of complex social settings and the creation of an integrated identity are major tasks of adolescence. Institutions such as after-school programs can influence social-emotional development through organizational and interpersonal practices, and prosocial growth can be encouraged through the alignment of supportive structures with developmental needs. This qualitative study explores the developmental and environmental fit of an urban after-school program for its participants. Using participant-observation and interviews, we explore how youths’ experiences in this setting are congruent with the developmental needs of pre-, early, and midadolescence. We find that program activities and relationships shift as youth mature to provide levels of support congruent with youths’ changing social-emotional and self-representation needs. These shifts provide contexts aligned with contemporary theories of adolescent development.

Beyond between-group differences: Considering race, ethnicity, and culture in research on positive youth development programs

ABSTRACT In this article, we explore how researchers can more fully consider and conceptualize the role of race and ethnicity in studies of youth development programs, with an emphasis on positive youth development (PYD). Such a focus can be integrated in a more meaningful way through the application of a theoretical model that provides a framework for understanding the role of race and ethnicity at multiple levels, and through recognition of challenges and limitations related to measurement and methodological approaches. Greater attention to race and ethnicity in research on youth programs can provide insight into the relevance of PYD models for specific groups of youth, culturally-specific themes that might enhance the applicability of PYD models and programs for some groups, the role of within-group heterogeneity with respect to PYD outcomes, and the aspects of PYD models and programs that appear to be essential for all youth across sociocultural contexts.