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References: Training and Employment Guidance Letter No. 4-97. Background: The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) continues to promote linking education and work through functional context-based instruction. Within the last decade, ETA has shifted SYETP's focus from one that emphasized giving young people an introduction to the working world to one that emphasizes integrating work and education addressing basic skills and other educational needs of participants. To provide support to the Workforce Development system in operating effective summer programs, ETA contracted with Social Policy Research Associates (SPRA) and Brandeis University's Center for Human Resources (CHR) to conduct an evaluation of the educational services component of SYETP and to create a Technical Assistance Guide (TAG), "Providing Educational Services in the Summer Youth Employment and Training Program", which could be of assistance to the system. The TAG was developed based on in-depth case studies of 83 educational programs in 30 service delivery areas (SDAs) across the country. Technical Assistance Guide: The TAG is based primarily on the quantitative analyses and qualitative data collected during site visits. It also draws on observations of the research staff from their long-term experiences studying related employment and training programs. The TAG is divided into two main parts, each with its own intended audience. Part A: Getting Started is intended primarily for Service Delivery Area staff, especially Summer Youth Coordinators. Chapters I through III are designed primarily for SDA staff, especially Summer Youth Coordinators. They include suggestions for strategies that SDAs can use in designing educational services. Part B: Strategies for Summer Youth Instruction is directed at the practitioner audience, including classroom instructors and worksite supervisors. This section of the TAG provides information on effective strategies for delivering educational instruction in the context of SYETP. While Chapters IV and V address issues of interest primarily to practitioners, including classroom instructors and worksite supervisors, these two chapters also provide step-by-step guidance on how to improve the content and instructional methods of the educational component. Chapter IV of the TAG focuses on Project-Based Learning, an instructional strategy in which participants plan, implement, complete, and evaluate a valuable real-life project. One strategy is to have youth prepare journals or maintain portfolios which expose them to becoming actively engaged in learning at the project level. They create a record of the youth's summer experiences and provide evidence of the skills used and attained which can forge a bridge when the youth returns to school in the fall. Furthermore, they document what a student learned and did through involvement in a project. The TAG is based on real experiences of SDAs and their work sites where active learning is taking place. The examples are not theory. The TAG can assist persons working with youth this summer. States and SDAs are encouraged to review the overall strategies and utilize them to the extent possible. States and SDAs are encouraged to review the specific examples about how project based learning and classroom training can be effectively integrated with plans at the local sites where the youth will be assigned. Many of the ideas may be able to be adapted for implementation this summer with only a little additional planning. Coming Up Taller: The President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities' publication, "Coming Up Taller", is filled with examples of arts and humanities programs for at-risk youth. These examples, many of which successfully combine the arts and job training, provide guidance to States and SDAs interested in launching summer programs with an arts focus. This publication illustrates how, in addition to their intrinsic value, the arts can provide youth with both resiliency skills (i.e., self esteem, assertiveness and discipline) and career opportunities. "Coming Up Taller" is available electronically at www.cominguptaller.org. States and SDAs are also encouraged to be in touch with State and local arts agencies to enlist their support for and participation in such summer projects. These agencies can provide mentors, project faculty, etc. Local arts agencies can be found through contacting the appropriate State Agency. Action Required: States are requested to: -- a. work with their SDAs to promote specific targets for educational service; and -- b. seek opportunities for linking work and learning during this summer's program.

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