Evaluation of Community-Based Youth Leadership Programs in Georgia
Loading...
Authors
Elliott, Michelle Wildman
Issue Date
2019-07
Type
Dissertation
Language
en_US
Keywords
Community leadership , Dissertations, Academic--United States , Education, Rural , Educational evaluation , Leadership--Study and teaching , Rural schools , Youth
Alternative Title
Abstract
This study sought to gain an understanding of changes that take place among youth as a result of participating in community-led leadership programs. Study participants were recruited from five counties in Georgia and had participated in community-led leadership programs during the 2017-2018 school year; these programs all lacked access to resources needed to conduct formal evaluation. The goals of this study were to quantify changes in participatory citizenship, community awareness, and leadership skills learning among participants.
Participants were surveyed prior to the delivery of leadership program content and then again after the program’s completion. Relationships between the variables that emerged from survey responses were analyzed using cross-tabulation and were tested for statistical significance using chi-square, gamma and Kendall’s tau-c analyses.
The findings revealed that learning occurred in the categories of participatory citizenship, community awareness, and leadership skills. Participants gained knowledge of community engagement consistent with the objectives of new public service theory. They demonstrated increased community awareness through an enhanced understanding of the social and economic issues facing the community, and also showed increased learning and confidence in both transactional and transformational leadership skills. The relationship between program participation and these changes aligned with the positive feelings associated with youth leadership programs. These findings support ongoing efforts to improve programs and to attract and retain funding. In the long term, community-led youth leadership programs may serve as an antidote to the “brain drain” and outward migration facing rural communities.
Keyword 1: evaluation
Keyword 2: youth
Keyword 3: leadership
Keyword 4: Georgia
Keyword 5: rural
Description
Citation
Publisher
License
This dissertation is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553, revised in 1976). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgement. Use of the materials for financial gain with the author's expressed written permissions is not allowed.