Youth Employment and Training Programs the YEDPA Years -- Copyright -- Contents -- Preface -- 1 Summary, Conclusions, and Recommendations -- THE NATURE OF THE YOUTH EMPLOYMENT PROBLEM -- LIMITATIONS OF THIS REVIEW -- FINDINGS AND CO CONCLUSIONS ON PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION -- National Office Management of Yedpa -- Targeting, Recruiting, and Retaining Youths -- Enrollment of Young Women -- FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS ON PROGRAM EFFECTIVENESS -- Occupational Skills Training Programs -- Occupational Skills Training Programs for Out-of-School Youths: The Job Corps -- Other Occupational Skills Training Programs -- Occupational Skills Training Programs for In-School Youths -- Labor Market Preparation Programs -- Programs for Out-of-School Youths -- Programs for In-School Youths -- Temporary Jobs Programs -- Programs for Out-of-School Youths -- Programs for In-School Youths -- Job Placement Programs -- Benefit-Cost Estimates -- FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS ON YEDPA RESEARCH -- Comparison and Control Group Methodology -- Measures of Implementation -- Length of Follow-Up Period -- Use of Subjective Measurements as Proxy Variables -- Sample Undercoverage and Attrition -- OVERALL CONCLUSIONS: DID YEDPA ACHIEVE ITS GOALS? -- Job Creation -- Research and Demonstration -- Developing the System -- The Schools and School Dropouts -- IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS -- Youth Programs -- Programs for Out-Of-School Youths -- Basic Education -- Occupational Skills Training -- Financial Assistance -- Programs for In-School Youths -- Women in Youth Employment Programs -- A General Research Strategy Under Jtpa -- Research Methods -- Random Assignment -- Implementation Research -- Use Of Subjective Measurements as Proxy Variables -- Postprogram Follow-Up -- Benefit-Cost Studies -- The Job Training Longitudinal Survey Data Base -- The General Conduct of Public Policy Research.

Dilemmas Confronting the Employment and Training System -- 2 Youth Employment and Unemployment -- THE YOUTH EMPLOYMENT PROBLEM: ITS NATURE AND DIMENSIONS -- Unemployment Rates -- Employment-To-Population Rates -- Employment of In-School And Out-Of-School Youths -- Labor Force Participation Rates and Summary of Employment Data -- White Males -- Nonwhite Males -- White Females -- Nonwhite Females -- Hispanic Youths -- Inactivity Rates -- Entry, Turnover, and Unemployment -- Wages and Earnings -- CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF YOUTH EMPLOYMENT PROBLEMS -- Factors Affecting the Demand for Labor -- Macroeconomic Conditions -- Industrial and Geographical Shifts in the Economy -- Minimum Wage Laws and Other Government Interventions -- Discrimination -- Antidiscrimination Laws and Enforcement -- Demand for Military Personnel -- Factors Affecting the Supply of Labor -- Demographic Trends -- Enrollment in School -- Youths' Expectations and the Reservation Wage -- Summing Individual Effects -- Other Influences on Youth Employment -- Family Influences and Teenage Experiences -- Social Context -- DEVELOPMENTS SINCE 1980 -- POSTSCRIPT -- 3 Implementation Of The Youth Employment And Demonstration Projects Act -- LEGISLATIVE BACKGROUND OF YEDPA -- THE IMPLEMENTATION OF YEDPA NATIONALLY -- YEDPA Expenditures and Participation -- Discretionary and Demonstration Projects -- LOCAL IMPLEMENTATION OF YEDPA -- Task 1: Planning and Assembling Programs -- Task 2: Targeting, Recruiting, and Enrolling Participants -- The Role Of Schools -- The Role of Other Agencies -- The Economic and Racial Isolation of Youth Employment Programs -- Task 3: Staffing and Organizing Program Activities -- Staffing -- Program Activities -- Task 4: Assessing Participant Needs and Matching Them to Program Services -- Task 5: Monitoring Quality of Programs and Services.

YEDPA RESEARCH: THE YOUTH KNOWLEDGE DEVELOPMENT PLAN -- Design of the Plan -- Implementation of the Plan -- SUMMARY -- 4 Procedures Used in Evaluating the Effectiveness of Yedpa Programs -- SOURCES OF DATA AND CRITERIA USED IN SELECTING REPORTS -- COMPARISON OF PROJECTS REVIEWED AND PROJECTS EXCLUDED FROM REVIEW -- OVERALL FRAMEWORK FOR EVALUATION -- Program Goals -- Program Types -- Target Groups -- LIMITATIONS OF THIS REVIEW -- 5 Effectiveness of Occupational Skills Training Programs -- PROGRAM FOR OUT-OF-SCHOOL YOUTHS -- Job Corps -- PROGRAM FOR IN-SCHOOL YOUTHS -- New Youth Initiatives in Apprenticeship -- CONCLUSIONS -- 6 Effectiveness of Labor Market Preparation Programs -- PROGRAMS FOR OUT-OF-SCHOOL YOUTHS -- Alternative Youth Employment Strategies -- Rtp Career Exploration Program -- Project Steady -- Job Corps Educational Improvement Effort -- PROGRAMS FOR IN-SCHOOL YOUTHS -- Oic/A Career Exploration Program -- National Puerto Rican Forum -- Project Redirection -- CONCLUSION -- 7 Effectiveness of Temporary Jobs Programs -- PROGRAMS FOR OUT-OF-SCHOOL YOUTHS -- Ventures in Community Improvement -- Supported Work -- Supported Work Youth Variation -- Public Versus Private Sector Jobs Demonstration Project -- PROGRAMS SERVING IN-SCHOOL YOUTHS -- Summer Youth Employment Program -- Youth Incentive Entitlement Pilot Projects -- SUMMARY -- 8 Effectiveness Of Job Placement Programs -- PROGRAMS FOR OUT-OF-SCHOOL YOUTHS -- 70001 -- Job Factory -- Job Factory Voucher Program -- Job Track -- PROGRAMS FOR IN-SCHOOL YOUTHS -- Jobs For Delaware Graduates -- Jobs for America's Graduates -- Project Best -- SUMMARY -- 9 Evidence of Program Effectiveness from National Data Bases -- THE CLMS AND NLS DATA BASES -- Findings From the CLMS -- Findings From the NLS -- Limitations to the Findings: Bias in Estimates of Effectiveness.

YEDPA STANDARDIZED ASSESSMENT SYSTEM -- References -- Appendices -- Appendix A Standardized Data Collection For Large-Scale Program Evaluation: An Assessment Of The Yedpa-Sas Experience -- Standardized Assessment System -- Data Collection Instruments -- Individual Participant Profile -- Step Reading Scale -- Job Knowledge and Attitudes Battery -- Vocational Attitude Scale -- Job Knowledge Test -- Self-Esteem Scale -- Work-Related Attitudes Inventory -- Job Holding Skills Scale -- Job Seeking Skills Test -- Sex Stereotyping of Adult Occupations Scale -- Project and Process Data -- Outcome Measures -- Program Completion Survey -- Program Follow-up Survey -- Concerns about Instrument Reliability and Validity -- Characteristics of the Data Base -- Completeness of Initial Coverage -- Sample Attrition -- Reliability and Validity of Instruments -- Predictive Validity -- Inter-Site Variations -- References -- Appendix B Report List -- Implementation Reports -- Appendix C Implications of the Youth Employment Experience for Improving Applied Research and Evaluation Policy -- Introduction -- Improving the Design of Outcome Evaluations -- Quality and Evaluation Policy in General -- Randomized Field Experiments -- Precedent -- Pilot Tests of Randomized Experiments -- Ethics -- Law -- The People Targeted for Services: Characteristics, Access, and Number -- Sensitivity of Field Experiments -- Measures of Program Implementation -- "Evaluability" -- Testing Components and Variations -- Attrition -- Coupling Experiments to Longitudinal and Panel Studies -- Theory: Amateur and Otherwise -- Improving the Quality and Interpretability of Evaluation Reports -- Attrition Rates -- Character of Program -- Access to the Data Base -- Target Population/Recruitment -- Site Selection -- Random Assignment -- Statistical Power Analyses -- Costs -- Graphs and Tables.

References and Bibliography -- Bibliography -- Guidelines, Standards, and Related Papers on Appraising the Quality of Social Program and Project Evaluations -- Illustrative, Recent Randomized Field Experiments in Law Enforcement and Corrections, Welfare, Court Procedures, Health… -- Law Enforcement and Corrections -- Civil, Criminal, and Administrative Law -- Juvenile and Criminal Justice -- Health Services -- Nutrition Related -- Randomized Experiments, Planned and Executed in Varying Degrees, on Youth Employment Programs -- Appendix D Estimates of Effects of Employment and Training Programs Derived From National Longitudinal Manpower Survey -- Characteristics of CLMS and NLS Data Bases -- Sample Execution -- Measurements -- Error Structure -- Time Period for Evaluation -- General Issues of Method -- Findings of Studies Using CLMS Data Base -- Analysis Strategies -- Westat Findings -- SRI Findings -- Urban Institute Findings -- Findings of Studies Using NLS Data Base -- CEIS Procedures and Findings -- PRG Procedures and Findings -- Biases in Estimates of Program Effectiveness Arising from Use of Matched Samples Rather Than Random Assignment -- Conclusion -- References -- Commissioned Papers -- KNOWLEDGE DEVELOPMENT UNDER THE YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS ACT, 1977-1981 -- Introduction -- Political Expectations -- Congressional Perspective -- Executive Branch Perspective -- Design of Knowledge Development Effort -- Centralizing Control of Yedpa in Oyp -- The Knowledge Development Plans -- Key Design Features -- Organization and Management -- Organizational Arrangements -- The CETA Delivery System -- The Policy System -- The Demise Of Knowledge Development -- Influence On Policy And Practice -- Guidance For The Future -- Useful Knowledge -- Delivering Services And Discovering Effects -- Payoffs -- Acknowledgments -- References.

THE SOCIAL CONTEXT OF YOUTH EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS.