The Adobe Foundation is collaborating with the Education Development Center (EDC) in a coordinated, ongoing evaluation of Adobe Youth Voices. The evaluation is measuring the effectiveness of Adobe Youth Voices regarding intended outcomes for teachers and students. The evaluation focuses on documenting the outcomes achieved by youth and teachers participating in the program. For youth, positive results include a deepened engagement in education and career development as well as the acquisition of relevant 21st century skills and increased self-confidence and pride in their abilities. Teacher outcomes include gaining skills in effectively using digital tools with youth, increasing the use of digital tools to teach across content areas, and capitalizing on the learning opportunities presented when youth use media to express themselves.

Adobe Youth Voices provides underserved youth around the world with the skills they need to prosper in the global 21st century economy. A comprehensive 21st century education enables students to think analytically, communicate effectively, work collaboratively, and solve complex problems. The rudimentary, basic skills education of the past era is no longer sufficient. Successful citizens and workers of this new knowledge-based age need a greatly expanded worldview and set of skills. Creativity and facility with technology are central to learning, synthesizing information, and exchanging ideas. Many youth are denied the benefit of this essential 21st century education because they lack access to appropriate technological resources, and their educators are not equipped or supported to use technology to enhance learning.

Young people see change and technology all around them and may feel detached from their outmoded education. They doubt the relevance of schooling and how it will benefit them in the future. They may become increasingly apathetic and disengaged. In the United States, this lack of engagement is a major cause of dropping out of high school. Around the world, a disastrous number of young people leave school for economic and social reasons. But the greatest barrier for many young people is their lack of belief in themselves and their own power to change their lives and their world. Adobe Youth Voices affirms the potential of underserved youth and provides them with breakthrough opportunities to persuasively express their ideas. Equally important, Adobe Youth Voices also provides youth with a worldwide audience to hear what they have to say.

The case for Adobe Youth Voices is confirmed by numerous national and international reports:

• 21st Century Skills, Education, & Competitiveness - A Resource and Policy Guide, Partnership for 21st Century Skills, Report 2008.
• Tough Choices of Tough Times, National Center on Education and the Economy, 2006.
• Access, Adequacy, and Equity in Education Technology, National Education Association, 2008.
• The Silent Epidemic, Civic Enterprise, 2006.
• United Nations Millennium Development Goals Report, 2007.
• 40 Developmental Assets, Search Institute.

Adobe Youth Voices evaluation framework

Adobe Youth Voices addresses the challenges presented in the case for the program by contributing in five critical areas. A framework of Adobe Youth Voices' six areas of contribution serves as a structure for evaluating the program's impact.

Adobe Youth Voices contributions framework

• Models a comprehensive 21st century education
• Increases youth access to technology
• Provides training and support for educators in the use of technology
• Connects with the real lives of students
• Increases young people's feelings of engagement and self-worth
• Provides opportunities for youth to feel valued and heard

See evaluation data >

As part of the evaluation, the Education Development Center (EDC) conducted a review of relevant literature to situate Adobe Youth Voices in a broader context, provide stakeholders with a framework for understanding goals and outcomes, and frame and inform the evaluation questions. EDC reviewed scholarly articles, program reports and evaluations, and research studies that addressed youth media programs, youth development, teacher professional development, and other areas related to Adobe Youth Voices' goals.

Although very little research-based evidence of the outcomes of youth media programs exists, descriptive, self-report, and anecdotal information is available. Literature on youth development, which is somewhat more robust, provides support for many of the goals and outcomes of youth media programs.

Among the findings, the literature review includes six key points that relate to the Adobe Youth Voices program:

The goals of youth media programs most commonly cited can be grouped into several categories:

• Youth voice — the capacity for self-expression
• Youth development — the process of developing the skills and personal attributes that enable young people to become successful adults
• Media literacy — the ability to analyze, evaluate, and produce information in a variety of media forms
• Skill development — such as communication, critical thinking, technology, and media production skills
• Social action or civic engagement

Outcomes and impacts on participants in youth media programs commonly found in the literature include:

• Improved skills
• Improved community perception of youth
• Positive youth development
• Increased social action and civic engagement

Outcomes and impacts on participants in youth development programs frequently cited include:

• Improved communication, critical thinking, and related skills
• Increased self-esteem
• More positive attitudes towards school and their futures

There is broad agreement that traditional educational approaches do not adequately address 21st century skills. Education must adapt to be more compatible with the ways in which young people think and learn, as well as the tools and media that are part of their environment.

Student engagement in education has been associated with positive youth development and 21st century skills. Engaging instruction often includes inquiry- or project-based, multidisciplinary, and authentic learning activities.

Educator professional development is believed to be a key step toward improving student outcomes. While there is little research that can demonstrate this connection, there is new focus on evaluating the effectiveness of professional development activities. Elements of effective professional development include learning communities and collaboration, ongoing support and assistance, and active or applied learning.

*"The Silent Epidemic -- Perspectives of High School Dropouts," a report by Civic Enterprises in association with Peter D. Hart Research Associates for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, March 2006.