The articles also offer practical advice about effective and manageable ways that practitioners can incorporate assessment into their work in order to improve quality. Together these articles represent a wealth of knowledge about what is important to measure in youth-serving settings and the pros and cons of different approaches to measurement. This information can help practitioners and policymakers grapple with how to use scarce evaluation resources wisely, establish productive accountability systems, and link data and program improvement strategies in ways that make services more effective.
This is the 121st volume of New Directions for Youth Development, the Jossey-Bass quarterly report series dedicated to bringing together everyone concerned with helping young people, including scholars, practitioners, and people from different disciplines and professions. The result is a unique resource presenting thoughtful, multi-faceted approaches to helping our youth develop into responsible, stable, well-rounded citizens.