Download this file - Plan4Preschool
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Youth development shifts the focus from deficits to assets and from fixing negative<br />
behaviors to building youths’ strengths. Research has found that critical developmental<br />
assets for youths include a caring school climate, clear rules and consequences in the<br />
school, high expectations from teachers, and bonding to the school.<br />
Resilience is a capacity for healthy development innate to all people. Young people are<br />
naturally motivated to want their human needs for love, belonging, respect, identity,<br />
power, mastery, challenge, and meaning met. When young people experience school<br />
environments rich in opportunities to experience caring relationships, high expectations,<br />
and meaningful participation, these needs are met. All schools can measure the extent<br />
to which their students experience these assets by using the Healthy Kids Survey’s<br />
Resilience & Youth Development Module (RYDM). For more information regarding<br />
resilience and youth development, visit the WestEd Web site at<br />
http://www.wested.org/pub/docs/hks_resilience.html.<br />
Creating a positive school climate, one that fosters students’ engagement in learning<br />
and connection to school, requires a schoolwide approach that includes:<br />
• An emphasis on caring relationships between adults and youths and prosocial<br />
cooperation among students<br />
• Planning and classroom management that involves listening to youth voices,<br />
taking their perceptions into account, and providing students with decision-making<br />
roles<br />
• Opportunities for peer leadership, peer helping programs, youth advocacy, <br />
service-learning, and other forms of meaningful participation <br />
• Training for school staff in youth development concepts, including the critical <br />
importance of having high expectations that all students can succeed in a <br />
standards-based approach to instruction <br />
The research described above is more fully summarized in the Getting Results:<br />
Updates 1 and 5 that can be found on the Getting Results Web site at<br />
http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/pn/fd/gettingresults.asp.<br />
For more information regarding youth development, contact Greg Wolfe, Safe and<br />
Healthy Kids Program Office, at (916) 319-0920 or by e-mail at gwolfe@cde.ca.gov.<br />
Additional information is also available on the Youth Development Web site at<br />
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/yd.<br />
After School Programs<br />
After school programs play an increasingly critical role in providing a safe environment<br />
for students during nonschool hours and supporting them in meeting and exceeding<br />
state academic standards. Before and after school programs are created through<br />
partnerships between schools and local community resources to provide support for<br />
literacy, academic enrichment, and safe and constructive environments for students.<br />
Grant funding for each fiscal year is contingent upon the availability of funds and the<br />
enactment of each respective federal and state Budget Act. When grant funding is<br />
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