HLE-270: Youth Development and The Achievement Gap

Semester: Spring

Credit: 1.0

Faculty: Ronald Ferguson

Schedule

Day Time Location
First Day 1/26
Meet Day T/Th 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM GSE
Review

Description

Achievement gaps between youth from different racial, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds are generated and sustained by a range of life experiences. To understand and ultimately influence such experiences, this course examines systems, structures and processes in school, home and community settings that affect both academic and non-academic gaps among youth from ages 10 to 25. The course begins with basic ideas about youth development goals and processes and associated disparities.  It moves on to address issues in the design and implementation of community-level systems and structures to support youth from disadvantaged backgrounds.  The next major section of the course concerns evaluation.  We review the major types of evaluation research on achievement-gap and youth-development interventions and the uses and misuses of each.  The final segment of the course addresses racial and ethnic patterns in ways that teachers, parents and peers affect both academic and non-academic disparities in developmental experiences. Also offered by the Graduate School of Education as GSE H-204.