ECUR 809 Assignments #4

Logic Model: Youth Educational Support Program

In inner city schools, subgroups of the student population are “vulnerable” to failure or “at-risk” of dropping out of school.  It is recognized that students come to school with non-academic problems that affect their learning these include hunger, social emotional issues, and conflicts at home; many of these students lack the resources to address their non-academic needs.  The Youth Education Support Program (YES) was developed to help fulfil this need for students in the Surrey School District. YES provides services to students in the setting of the high school that they are attending.  The aim of the YES program is to keep vulnerable youth in school through relationship building.  
  

The four goals of the YES program as outlined in their program plan are as follows:

·         To make students aware of their responsibilities to others, themselves and their school

·         To facilitate meaningful connections with peers, adults, the school and the community

·         To keep vulnerable students in school and improve student behavior

·         To build cooperative partners with teaching, counselling and administration staff in order to improve student achievement and attitude in the classroom

The YES program began more than ten years ago out of a partnership between Henry D. Sheldon High School in Eugene, Oregon and Princess Margaret Secondary in Surrey, BC. At that time YES was a pilot of an interagency model that was designed to connect practicum students from local post-secondary institutions with a high school site for volunteer experience and field study.  The use of the practicum students in the program delivery helps to keep the cost of the program low.  The YES program has continued to evolve since its conception and is currently being offered at 5 inner city schools in Surrey. 

The YES program is delivered out of a portable situated on the school property.  Before school, at lunch, and after school students can drop in to the portable where they connect with the YES coordinator or practicum students.  Teachers, counsellors and administers can refer students to the program; the YES staff then initiates a connection with the student at some point in the school day and works to develop a relationship with the student through various activities over time.  The YES staff facilitates many activities at the school, lunch programs, special events, community referrals, drop in games, and one-to-one supports. 

This evaluation will focus on the effectiveness of the collaboration between the YES staff and teachers at the LA Matheson site.  Is this partnership helping students experience success and ultimately helping them to stay in school?  How can the collaborative partnership be improved?  
  

Logic Model (PDF file)