Examining the Evidence: Topics of interest to USAID in youth development & education

Rachel Blum, USAID and

Christy OlenikCaroline Fawcett

Nancy GuerraValerie Haugen from

JBS International, Inc.

Purpose • To provide USAID’s Office of Education with information

on the latest research regarding youth workforce development, youth education in conflict environments, and holistic or cross-sector youth development.

• To provide USAID’s Office of Education with support in setting priorities for a youth focused research and evaluation agenda.

• Work supports USAID Education Strategy Goals 2 & 3, as well as the impending USAID Youth in Development Policy.

Literature Scan

*Numbers in each review overlap as some studies were considered evidence in more than one topic area

Topic Number of Studies Reviewed*

Youth Workforce Development 36

Youth Education in Conflict Environments

27

Holistic, Cross-sector Youth Development

43

Types of StudiesTopic Experimental Quasi-

experimentalPerformance Evaluations

Other

Youth Workforce Development*

6 6 17 4

Youth Education in Conflict Environments

2 4 19 2

Holistic, Cross-sector Youth Development

5 13 23 2

*The youth workforce development scan also included 3 meta-analyses not listed here.

Workforce Development Initial Findings• Positive impacts on employment and earnings • Less clear about rural youth and university educated youth• Youth are gaining skills that foster outside employment

including interviewing, resume development, and job search• Entrepreneurship strategies seem to increase gaining

targeted knowledge and skills in customer service, marketing of products, accounting, record-keeping, and understanding the market

• Youth are also acquiring life skills like positive work ethic, financial literacy, and other developmental assets (e.g., honesty, responsibility, decision-making)

• Institutional capacity development trends include labor market assessments, national-local partnerships, flexible short term training and active participation of youth

Potential Research and Evaluation Topics

Most essential, cost-effective components for youth in general

Most essential, cost-effective components for rural youth Most essential, cost-effective components for highly

educated youth Link between life/soft skills and employment How programs can reach scale and sustainability What strategies are effective at integrating youth into

value chains

Youth Education in Conflict Initial Findings• Access to education including classrooms, community

centers, and non-formal learning groups. • Positive impact reported in reading, writing and math skills

after access to basic education.• Youth are gaining employability and life skills.• Positive feelings and attitudes and also increased healthy

behaviors.• Positive impact on the longer-term outcomes of less

violence and increased tolerance and feelings of belonging and empowerment.

• Long-term outcomes achieved through multi-component interventions: employment, psychosocial, peace-building, and conflict mediation.

Potential Research and Evaluation Topics

What works at increasing youth access to education

Link between youth education and country stability/mitigation of violence

Link between youth employment and youth crime or violence

What works to build youth-friendly systems

What makes some youth more resilient than others

Holistic, Cross-sector Youth Development Initial Findings• A broad set of academic and social-emotional skills predict

academic achievement, positive social behavior, and resilience for youth across cultures and countries.

• As youth get older, these skills are complemented by specific technical, vocational, and health knowledge and skills (often called life skills) to facilitate the transition to adulthood.

• These skills and behaviors represent short-term developmental outcomes of PYD interventions; these short-term outcomes predict long-term, sector-based outcomes.

• These socio-emotional skills, academic skills, life skills, and behaviors can be improved through a range of different programs including school-based curricula, out-of-school training, and engagement with youth organizations.

• Cross-agency and cross-sector collaborations, although difficult to implement, produce the most enduring effects for PYD.

Potential Research and Evaluation Topics

Should youth programming be universal or based on youth needs/risk factors

What short term outcomes serve as milestones for long term outcomes

What factors impact young people’s decision to engage in risky behaviors

What assets do youth need at (10-15 yrs.) vs. (16-19 yrs.), vs. (20-29 yrs.)

The impact of youth engagement in program design and implementation

What benefits can be gained from cross-system, cross-sector collaborations

Questions & Answers

Rachel Blum – rblum@usaid.gov Christy Olenik – colenik@jbsinternational.comhttp://www.jbsinternational.com/site/Pages/global-usaid-youth.aspx

Thank You