Applying CYFERNet Resources to Evaluate Youth Outcomes

Enhancing Decision-making Among

Adolescents

Case Example: A School-based Gang

Prevention Program

Decision-making can be defined as a process of

making choices among possible alternatives. It is
a process carried out by each of us many times
during the course of a day. Some decisions can
involve life-threatening or life-changing choices,
such as a decision to drink and drive. Other
decisions are more mundane, such as the decision of what to eat for lunch. It stands to reason
that the ability to make effective and functional
decisions is an instrumental part of everyones
life. Unfortunately, many adolescents often lack
the requisite skills needed to make accurate,
effective, and self-beneficial decisions and they
often perceive a lack of choices when making
decisions. The ability to make good decisions
and weigh the possible choices is especially
important during adolescence because it is a time
when decisions can have long-term consequences regarding career, parenthood, school
involvement, and risk behaviors (Scott, 1999,
Social CompetencyDecision making).

NOTE: Although the program discussed here is

ecological in nature and includes a parenting component and a community service component, for the
purposes of this bulletin only the school-based youth
program component is presented.

Decision-making is one of the social competency

outcome indicators identified by the YouthNational Outcome Workgroup. The YouthNOWG has developed a short decision-making
instrument, pilot tested and modified it, and is
now using it as part of the evaluation of STST
projects attempting to enhance decision-making
skills among youth. If you would like to find out
more about this instrument and the data collection effort, contact the Youth-NOWG facilitator,
Bill Evans, at evans@scs.unr.edu.

Following a series of increasingly violent altercations

occurring between adolescents during regular school
hours, the school district and law enforcement agencies of the community of Summersville formed a task
force in an effort to identify why student fighting in
school was on the rise. The educational and law
enforcement communities came to a realization that
many of the adolescents in the community, upon entry
into middle school, were joining gangs and engaging
in gang-related activities. Discussions with school, law
enforcement, and youth professionals indicated this
trend could be a function of two independent, but
related causes. One identified cause pertained to the
loss of identity and belongingness that can occur
among adolescents during the transition to middle
school, while the other was attributed to a perceived
lack of choices for alternative youth memberships and
a lack of information about the long-term consequences for gang involvement. Baumeister and Leary
(1995) argue that belongingness is a fundamental
human motivation and that this may be a particularly
important issue during adolescence. An in-school
program, developed in conjunction with school
officials, parents, community juvenile authorities, and
local Extension staff was conceived to address simultaneously these issues.

The University of Arizona

Institute for Children, Youth
and Families

August 1999

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Applying CYFERNet Resources to Evaluate Youth Outcomes

Program Goals and Objectives

Description of Program Intervention

This program has goals and objectives for

each program component; those applicable
to the school-based youth program component are:

This program was designed to target male and female

youth in their first semester of middle school. The intervention took place during a weekly, non-elective lifeskills curriculum class specifically designed for this
program through the cooperation of the district school
board. During the two years the program is initially
funded, it will involve approximately 400 youth, 11-13
years old, from four middle schools. The school district
decided to start one-half of the students this year and
one-half next year. That is, two middle schools began the
intervention during the current academic year and two
middle schools chose to wait and begin the intervention
during the next academic year. The two middle schools
that delayed implementation served as the control group.
Control group students received neither teacher or
student training/intervention. However, they did receive a
pre/post decision-making instrument (administered at the
same time as the program participants), and referrals and
gang membership were tracked at the control group
school sites. All schools consisted of primarily poor,
African-American and Hispanic students.

Goal 1: reduce potential gang involvement

by increasing awareness of the benefits and
opportunities afforded by alternative organizations
Goal 2: raise awareness of the importance
of good decision-making skills and recognition of short- and long-term consequences
for decisions made
Objectives:

promote awareness of alternative group

activities and memberships opportunities
help youth in learning how to identify
options and alternatives prior to making
a decision
assist youth in identifying and evaluating
possible short- and long-term consequences of the decisions they make
promote awareness of informational
resources that are available to assist
youth in evaluating and making decisions
measure reduction in gang involvement
through increases in membership in
alternative organizations and reduced
school office referrals

Once the schools implemented the program it continued for one year allowing the students two full semesters
of instruction. The program contained two foci: the
presentation of information about gangs, including the
consequences, risks and alternative choices to gang
membership, and information and techniques regarding
the importance of making carefully evaluated decisions.
Key program staff includes a local Extension educator
who served as the program administrator and 45 teachers
(21 during year one and 24 during year two).

From the Program Staff...

The most difficult thing that this project has to contend with is capturing and holding the attention of
the students in the classes. We have to make the activities and examples real-life so it has meaning in
the contexts in which they will need these skills. If we want to teach them about making positive
choices, we have to make the lessons fun, involving, and pertinent to their life . . . local school
administrator.
Taking away the mystery and romance of the gang may be one of the most valuable things we contribute. The media has romanticized and made cool the gang. Talking about it and getting the ugliness,
violence, and discrimination that takes place within a gang out into the open should help remove
some of the mystery. And the romance for the girls.juvenile court counselor
August 1999

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Applying CYFERNet Resources to Evaluate Youth Outcomes

Evaluation Plan
After referring to the Evaluation Guide posted on the CYFERNet website, it was decided to use existing
records on gang involvement and illegal activity from law enforcement sources, and school office
referrals (e.g., interpersonal conflict-related confrontations, gang dress and paraphernalia, etc.) to help
evaluate program participant gang membership and conflict resolution skills. From the Youth-NOWG
materials, it was decided to use the decision-making instrument they had developed as a pre/post test
to evaluate potential changes in decision-making skills.
All the teachers taking part in the project were volunteers and were specially trained in a prepared
curriculum during monthly training meetings. In conjunction with the decision making component of
the intervention, all students (both those in the program intervention and those in the control groups)
received pre/post tests using the Youth-NOWG
Decision-making Instrument. This instrument is
specifically designed to measure adolescent perKey Evaluation Results
ceptions of the importance of the decisions they
make, recognition of the potential impact that the
Preliminary analyses following the first year
decisions they make today can have on future
of the program indicates enhanced decision
choices, and the importance of evaluating new
making among students receiving the prodecisions in light of information gleaned from past
gram intervention compared to those in the
decisions.
control group receiving no intervention (as

measured by the Decision-making instruObjectives 1 (promoting awareness of alternative

ment). Initial results also indicate a reduction
group activities and memberships opportunities)
in gang related involvement as reflected in
and 5 (measuring the reduction in gang involveboth school referrals and juvenile law enment through increases in membership in alternaforcement records for the two middle schools
tive organizations) were measured by providing the
participating in the first year of the program.
participants a self-report style checklist of available
community activities and group membership
opportunities. Awareness and involvement was
measured by comparing the self-report checklist at the beginning of the program with the self-report
checklist at the conclusion of the program. Data was collected regarding school referrals and gang
involvement both at the onset of the program and at program completion using existing school office
and law enforcement records.
A curriculum was developed with reference to Objectives 2 (helping youth in learning how to identify
options and alternatives prior to making a decision), 3 (assisting youth in identifying and evaluating
possible short- and long-term consequences of the decisions they make), and 4 (promoting awareness
of informational resources that are available to assist youth in evaluating and making decisions). These
objectives were assessed from the data collected from the pre/post decision-making instrument developed by the Youth-NOWG.
The control group was assessed in a manner identical to that of the intervention groups. That is,
through the use of pre/post tests on all instruments; however, control group students were not given
the curriculum intervention. As with the intervention group, data regarding school referrals and gang
involvement was collected using existing school office records prior to the programs implementation
and at the end of the school year.
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Applying CYFERNet Resources to Evaluate Youth Outcomes

About the NOWG website and other resources
The Youth National Outcome Work Group (NOWG) was formed to develop evaluation resources for
youth programs and consisted of thirteen members from nine land-grant institutions. Group members
recognized that the majority of Extension youth programs identify themselves as trying to assist youth
with asset building and/or risk reduction. In other words, most programs are focused on either enhancing social competency or reducing risk behavior.
The Youth-NOWG is composed of academicians
with both research and program interests, and
Reporting Evaluation Results
community-based program and extension faculty
who recognized the need for a resource that
School administrators, teachers, and parents,
would assist and strengthen the evaluation capacity of community-based programs. These reas well as law enforcement officials and key
sources, categorized according to competency
community leaders, were sent a report reflectand risk program outcome indicators, were develing the first year evaluation results of the
oped by the Youth-NOWG and placed on the
program. This report served to showcase the
web.
program and its results, and included a deThe NOWG web site provides selected informascription of the program, how the program
tion to community-based program developers,
was developed, and identified key collaboraevaluators, and researchers relating to community,
tors and program staff. In addition, a presentafamily, adolescent, and children community-based
programs and evaluation. Each of these four
tion to the school board was made by Extencomponents provides information specifically
sion staff about the evaluation of the program,
designed to enhance program and evaluation
highlighting results and discussing the
efforts directed towards that particular program
programs future. As a result, the coalition
focus. Among the information available are selected bibliographies, measurements and scales,
responsible for developing the program has
evaluation guides, and links to related sites. In
agreed to pursue additional funding to expand
addition, methodological information concerning
the program to fifth grade students in elemenqualitative research is presented to familiarize
tary schools and offer twice a week sessions in
program developers and evaluators with alternatives to pencil and paper survey results.
the middle schools.
Authors, acknowledgements, references, etc.
Reference: Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a funda-

mental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 497-529.

Acknowledgements:
Authors: Roselyn Polk and Bill Evans
Reviewer: Shirley H. Taylor, Extension Specialist

Design & Layout: Aleta Garcia

This material is based upon work supported by the Cooperative State Research, Education, Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Cooperative Extension
Service, University of Arizona under special project number #1999-01169.
The University of Arizona College of Agriculture is an Equal Opportunity employer authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to
individuals and institutions that function without regard to sex, race, religion, color, national origin, age, Vietnam Era Veteran's status, or disability.

August 1999

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