Extending Learning Time for Disadvantaged Students - Volume 2 Profiles of Promising Practices - 1995

A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

Teen Outreach Program (TOP) Association Of Junior Leagues International

Tuolumne County Public Schools,
Sonora, California

Key Characteristics

Led by association and community sponsors
Strong community service component

Overview

The Teen Outreach Program (TOP) is a national dropout and teen pregnancy prevention effort sponsored by the Association of Junior Leagues International (AJLI) since 1987, with community sponsors at each site. The key components are (1) classroom group exercises centered around a Life Options curriculum, (2) a strong relationship between students and facilitators, and (3) a community service commitment. The format varies among sites, but the program typically adds two hours a week during the school year and focuses on helping participants develop a positive self-image, concrete life management skills, and future goals. In 1993-94, the program reached 114 classroom sites in 35 cities, including several in the Tuolumne County Public Schools. This profile provides background on the overall national program while focusing on the Tuolumne project.

School Context

Approximately 1,500 students participated in TOP nationally in 1993-94. Nationally, the average age of participants is 15, although ages range from 11 to 21. About 40 percent of the students are African American, 40 percent are Anglo, and 13 percent are Hispanic. Two fifths of the participants are from single-parent families; the parents of about one fifth had less than a high school education. In the Tuolumne County School District, about 115 students from four schools participated in TOP in 1993-94. The district serves a rural, predominantly Anglo population of 52,000. In 1993-94, Teen Outreach sites included three elementary schools and a high school; in 1994-95, the program will expand to two more schools. The Tuolumne program serves about 90 seventh- and eighth-graders and 25 high school students. More than 90 percent of the students are Anglo, 6 percent are Hispanic, and about 2 percent are Native American. The unemployment rate in Tuolumne County is 11 percent; 42 percent of the students come from low-income families.

Major Program Features

Planning and design. The national program evolved from a pregnancy prevention program established in 1978 by an administrator in the St. Louis Public Schools. In 1981, the Junior League of St. Louis and the Danforth Foundation began sponsoring the program, and in 1984 the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation funded a national demonstration effort by the Junior League of St. Louis. Since 1987, the AJLI has administered the program. By 1993-94, the program was offered in 114 classroom sites and served 1,500 students. From the program's inception, community service was viewed as an integral component in enhancing students' self-esteem and enabling them to see themselves as contributing members of their community.
Administrators of the Tuolumne County Public Schools sponsored TOP for the first time in 1992-93, combining it with an existing program for at-risk youth called the YES-Youth Community Health Alliance. The YES project began in 1986 in response to community concerns about drug and alcohol abuse, teen pregnancy, and school dropouts. Agencies that funded YES suggested that Tuolumne schools consider implementing TOP; school administrators were attracted to TOP's community service component and hoped it would connect students with the community.
Academic focus. Students participate in the program during the school year for two hours each week. One hour is spent in a "Life Options" class (which is held after school but may take place during the regular school day) and one hour is spent performing community service. Students are usually arranged in groups of 15 to 20, and at some sites the program may be taken for credit. At Tuolumne schools, an average of 25 students are in each group; the Life Options course is offered for credit during the regular health class or during class time designated for substance abuse prevention or sex education, in an attempt to "institutionalize" the program and avoid potential transportation problems. But the highlight of the Tuolumne TOP program is the community service--or "service learning" component, which occupies students for at least one hour a week outside the regular school schedule.
Interdisciplinary community service projects are integrated into and enhance the core academic curriculum. For example, a science class participating in a stream clean-up project also involves history, civics, and language arts learning as students study the history of the community and uses of the stream and activate community leaders to support changes that could eliminate pollution and restore stream life. Students reflect upon their learning and develop language arts skills through discussions and by writing articles, essays, and personal journals. Service learning also encourages higher-order thinking skills and allows students to apply learning to real-life situations. Other service learning projects in Tuolumne involve composting, recycling, and cemetery clean-up.
In addition, the Tuolumne TOP program has applied for funding in collaboration with the school district, the Community Health Alliance, and a local community college's service learning program, which will provide mentoring relationships between college students enrolled in service learning and the high school TOP students. The new project also will pay teachers to develop more curricula integrated with service learning for most elementary schools and two high schools in the county.
The Life Options class, led by a teacher or counselor who serves as a facilitator, stresses positive decision-making skills. The class follows a model curriculum distributed by the AJLI; it includes 11 units on such topics as communication skills, planning for the future, and learning about the community. In the latter, participants discuss the meaning of community, the community's needs and resources, and their role in the community. Students then plan an individual or group community service activity to address those needs. Participants developed strong connections with a hospital by volunteering as candy-stripers or working in the maintenance, carpentry, office, preschool, or senior center areas. Other students planned gardening and recycling projects at the school.
Students also participate in planning the Life Options classes, enabling close interaction between students and facilitators. These interactive sessions encourage students to think critically about issues and evaluate their own behavior. Goals for the sessions include developing students' communication and conflict resolution skills and helping students set short- and long-term goals.
Organizational management/structure. AJLI requires that each program have a community sponsor--typically a Junior League but sometimes another community agency. The sponsor must secure funding for the program, arrange and monitor the community service, and collaborate with the school system. Working with the local schools, the sponsoring agency selects a facilitator and conducts training seminars. The number of students participating determines the number of facilitators hired, with the goal of a ratio of one facilitator for every 15 to 20 students.
In Tuolumne County, the program was initiated by a partnership between the county office of education and the Community Action Agency because the county does not have a Junior League. The program director works half-time, and the staff includes a liaison person and about five teacher/facilitators each year. The director meets regularly with the facilitators to resolve problems and share innovations. In addition, an advisory committee composed of school personnel and community representatives provides frequent input on the program's operations.
Student selection in the national program differs among sites. In some programs, students enter TOP voluntarily when they hear of the program; at other schools, facilitators or counselors identify students who are not yet exhibiting negative behaviors but who could be at high risk of leaving school or becoming pregnant. High-risk factors include having a parent or older sibling who did not graduate from high school or who became pregnant as a teenager.
Student selection in the Tuolumne program also varies among sites. At one elementary school, students who do not pass certain classes or have limited academic success are identified by teachers and pulled out into a special class. However, in the other three sites the Tuolumne TOP program is not a pullout program; one of the classes is self-contained, and in the other two TOP is an elective. Although students are still identified by teachers, program staff ensure that there is a mix of high-risk students and high achievers, and the two groups of students work closely together.
Community involvement. Community involvement is built into the TOP program through the service learning component and through frequent guest lectures from community members. For career exploration sessions, facilitators frequently invite police, realtors, and other professionals to discuss their jobs. A recent service learning project involved cleaning up the local Masonic cemetery. With its strong ties to community service from the pre-existing YES program, the Tuolumne TOP also has built-in interaction with the community. TOP sites have developed strong relationships with community service providers, such as the hospital. The program plans to expand outreach to parents to encourage their involvement in the community service efforts.
Professional environment. Junior League International staff visit each site when new facilitators are hired and provide intensive two-day training on the TOP curriculum. The trainers focus on ways to encourage student participation and self-reflection. Training focuses on using role-playing as a means of building assertiveness and communication skills.
Funding. Funding for the national program covers the cost of evaluation and provision of technical assistance. TOP is sponsored by several grants, including funding from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund, the Smith Richardson Foundation, and the Carnegie Corporation of New York. At individual sites, community sponsors raise funds to cover operating costs. In Tuolumne County, the county office of education and the Community Action Agency sponsor the program and last year solicited grants to cover the $32,700 annual budget. A $25,000 grant from the Sierra Health Foundation provides the bulk of funding, and a smaller grant from the state Office of Criminal Justice Planning supplies the remainder. The program does not receive federal funds. The per-pupil expenditure is approximately $218.
Cultural inclusiveness. In one of the units in the Life Options class, students discuss their cultural differences and commonalities and consider the impact of prejudice and discrimination through role playing. At Tuolumne TOP sites, student groups are fairly homogeneous, with most students coming from low-income Anglo families. The program director noted that cultural differences exist according to income and that the staff is urged to be sensitive to the needs of children from low-income families. Tuolumne County also has a growing Hispanic and an existing Native American population, and program staff respond to their needs by working with school-designated Hispanic advocates or district coordinators of ESL or Limited English Speaking programs. TOP staff also coordinate efforts with the Tuolumne Rancheria, a Native American reservation, to address special needs.
Assessment and accountability. Junior League International requires each TOP site to conduct a pre- and post-program evaluation that consists of intake forms filled out by students and tracking student-participants. A national evaluation of 3,674 student-participants and 4,202 comparison students was completed in 1991.
The intake form asks students about their school and life experiences, including questions such as "Have you failed any courses this year? Have you been suspended? Did you skip a day? Were you picked up by the police? Have you been pregnant or caused a pregnancy? Do you smoke cigarettes? What is your parents' education level?" Tuolumne schools have only conducted the pre-program survey at this point. "It's too early to tell if the program's having an effect," the program director said. "With most programs like this, you don't expect behavioral changes for five years."

Implementation Issues

The program has worked well in Tuolumne County, the program director reports, largely because it has been tailored to a rural community. Transportation is a barrier to almost any social service program in this area because public transportation is not readily available and/or affordable to the students. But program staff structured TOP to avoid transportation problems; the Life Options class is held during the day so students are already at the school, and most of the community service projects are located within walking distance of the schools. As program participants consider sites further from the school, staff are trying to arrange discounted or free public bus passes for students.

The Tuolumne program director recommends that the national organizers of the TOP program train trainers in the Life Options curriculum, instead of visiting each site to train facilitators. The change would save the travel costs of importing trainers from national headquarters and would benefit all sites trying to institutionalize the program, she said.

Evidence of Success

The national TOP evaluation found that in the seven years ending in 1991, TOP participants averaged an 18 percent lower school suspension rate, a 50 percent lower school dropout rate, and a 33 percent lower pregnancy rate than students in the comparison group. Although these statistics cannot be broken down easily by TOP site, the Tuolomne County TOP director reports a more positive attitude toward school among participants. Through participation in service learning, students also demonstrated greater personal, civic, and social responsibility and learned to work effectively with others.
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[Total Action Against Poverty (TAP)]

[Before- And After-School Program]