Longitudinal Study of an Operational Model for Enhancing Central City Youth's Self-Concept, Academic Achievement, Attitude Toward School, Participation in School, and Socialization/Maturation. Final Report

This study has attempted to identify the longitudinal impact of a summer program model designed to enhance central city junior high school youth's self-concept, attitude toward school, participation in school, academic achievement, and socialization/maturation. Three sets of experimental/control groups were included in the study and after two years in the program, randomly selected youth revealed significant improvements in socialization/maturation--that is, their ability to take care of themselves and get along better with others. They also served in significantly more school leadership positions than control youth. There was no significant improvement in self-concept, attitude toward school, participation in school, and academic achievement. Leadership-prone students however, did achieve significant gains in the latter areas. A description is included of the program's background, history, input, changes over the years, problems and recommendations. (Author)