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Perceived Healthfulness of the Environment of Communities with Low Income: Focus Groups and Interviews with Extension Nutrition Educators
Get PDFThis study explored Extension nutrition educators’ (NEs) perceptions of community members’ challenges and opportunities for achieving a healthy lifestyle. NEs represented various communities with low income across nine states. NEs across locations identified similar barriers (i.e., lack of access and availability of healthy and affordable foods; access to transportation; and financial insecurity) and opportunities (i.e., trustworthy and free nutrition education resources and programs; and access to food banks, food pantries, and health care professionals) that prevented or facilitated a healthful lifestyle. Future research should explore key community stakeholder and community member perceptions to guide the development of community-driven interventions
Customer Journey Mapping: A New Tool in the Extension Educator’s Toolbelt
Get PDFCustomer journey mapping can be used to gain a complete understanding of customers by charting touchpoints across pre-purchase, purchase and post-purchase stages. By lifting customer journey mapping out of traditional retail settings and applying it to farm retail enterprises, customer journey mapping can be a powerful tool in the Extension educator toolbelt – a tool that can be utilized when educating producers in group settings or individual consultations. This article offers an introduction to the customer journey mapping tool. A case study and tips for using journey mapping concludes the article
How Much Is Enough? Dosage and Duration in 4-H Developmental Contexts
Get PDFWhile research abounds on the outcomes of out-of-school time programs for youth, most studies focus on programs with similar profiles or within the same program category, leaving a notable gap in examining youth experiences across programs with different delivery modes. The current research investigated the perceived experiences of youth in two programs, 4-H community clubs and 4-H camps. Using the 4-H Thriving Model, the study assessed perceptions of the programs’ developmental contexts on three program elements including youth sparks, sense of belonging, and relationships with adults. Data for the study was collected through surveys conducted in 2019 among 4-H community club and 4-H camp participants aged 13-17 in Illinois. Results suggest that 4-H community club participants had higher perceptions of their programs in all aspects of the developmental context when compared to 4-H camp participants. Some differences in the three program elements existed for years of 4-H participation, gender and race/ethnicity. This study informs youth development program designers, practitioners, and researchers about different program influences on youth experiences. It helps enhance program design and implementation, improving youth participants’ outcomes
Development of a Comprehensive Social-Emotional Learning Questionnaire for Elementary After-School Physical Activity Programs
Get PDFAfterschool settings have continued to be identified as an ideal outlet for supporting youth development in many arenas, including physical activity (PA) behaviors and social emotional learning (SEL) skills. In fact, PA centered programs are ideal settings for youth to 8 develop and practice SEL skills in authentic ways. However, there a several issues as it relates to understanding the impact of said programs. This includes reliable measures of youth perceptions of their SEL skills, the diverse ability of learners who may attend these programs, and the age range of learners. Given the realities of evaluating youth development in real-world afterschool settings, the purpose of this study was to develop and test the reliability, consistency, and developmental appropriateness of a comprehensive SEL survey (all five components) for 3rd-6th grade and K-2nd grade youth in an afterschool PA program. These measures do not currently exist, and developmentally appropriate tools would allow for program wide evaluation of the same SEL constructs for all participants. As part of a larger study (Anonymous et al., 2022), this repeated cross-sectional study included 273 participants (K-2nd= 149; 3rd -6th = 124). The methods included survey item development, expert panel review, and two cross-sectional explorations for construct reliability and correlational analysis. Following edits from expert panels and time 1 data review, time 2 data showed overall consistent reliability for both the 3-6th grade comprehensive SEL survey as well as the K-2nd grade comprehensive SEL survey. The distinction is targeted as afterschool programs include many learners thus requiring developmentally appropriate survey items to capture all five SEL competencies. This investigation fills a large gap in the literature and addresses the realities of afterschool programming in that the developmental level of participants can vary greatly and there are few evaluation tools to explore program impact for young and diverse groups of students
Positive Outcomes of Out-of-School Time Activity Participation for Youth: A Pattern-Centered Approach
Get PDFYouth participation in community-based, structured out-of-school time programs (OST) has been found to promote positive developmental outcomes by providing youth with resources to build interpersonal relationships and essential life skills. The increasing prevalence and multiplicity of youth participation in these activities leads us to expand the research evidence regarding the relation between program participation and positive youth development, with a focus on identifying nuanced patterns of OST participation that consider the breadth and frequency of activities across different types of programs. We apply this pattern-centered approach to analyzing how and for whom these activities may promote youth academic competence and character. The study sample is a subset of 700 middle-school youth of diverse race and ethnicity who primarily reside in low-resource areas of South Carolina. Survey respondents indicated their involvement in specific OST activities as well as the frequency of participation. PYD outcomes were measured with items from the academic competence and character subscales of the PYD-Short form. We conducted a latent profile analysis (LPA) of the activity participation variables to determine OST profile membership based on youth self-reported participation in OST activities. A series of analyses following the LPA examined the links between OST participation profile membership and academic competence and character as well as potential variation by race and gender. Our findings of consistent positive main effects of OST participation profiles on these outcomes across demographic groups underscore the value of diverse OST program participation for enhancing well-being and healthy development in early adolescence
Promoting Equity: Embracing Food Justice in the Transformation of the Food Systems for BIPOC Communities
Get PDFThe food justice movement addresses systemic food inequities impacting BIPOC communities, rooted in civil rights and environmental justice movements. It advocates for fair access to culturally relevant food, combating food deserts, and promoting food sovereignty. Recognizing intersectionality, it emphasizes collaboration to dismantle systemic barriers. This study aims to understand BIPOC communities\u27 challenges and effective strategies, stressing the importance of collaborative efforts for lasting systemic change. Extension professionals face challenges but can contribute through equity-focused strategies, community engagement, and partnerships, advancing food justice and fostering inclusive food systems
Sparks and Developmental Outcomes in Out-of-School Time Programs: Emipirical Evidence and Theory Development
Get PDFWe examined relations among select components of the 4-H Thriving Model, focusing on youth sparks and four presumed determinants: program quality, developmental relationships, situational engagement, and dosage. Based on our results and results of previous studies, we propose a formal theory of youth program sparks. Three hundred fifty-six Texas 4-H youth from a variety of 4-H programs state-wide completed a questionnaire measuring sparks, program quality, developmental relationships, situational engagement, and 4-H program dosage. We measured two indicators of thriving: growth mindset and hopeful purpose. Sixty-eight percent of study participants reported being female, 28% reported being male, 1% reported being nonbinary/third gender, and .28% indicated being transgender. School grade levels ranged from sixth grade (n = 4) to “graduated from high school” (n=21). We found significant linear relations between sparks and three determinants: program quality, developmental relationships, and situational engagement. The relation between sparks and dosage was curvilinear. We found significant linear relations between sparks and thriving. Combined with results of previous studies, we propose a theory of youth program sparks. Using Zetterberg’s (1965) framework for theory construction, we propose scientific (Aristotelian) definitions of key concepts and propositions about relations among those concepts. The theory provides a basis for future research that can inform youth development policy
Light in the Darkest Places: Analyzing News Coverage of a U.S. Immigrant Detention Center
Get PDFImmigrants remain one of the most disempowered groups within the United States. Drawing on critical media literacy research that focuses on power dynamics and positioning, this article addresses ways the news media reports on immigrants and immigrant detention centers. We conducted a critical content analysis of 180 articles on one specific location, Stewart Detention Center (SDC), to demonstrate variability in newspaper reporting on several levels, including frequency, geographic location, and context. Our first research question explored changes in reporting over time, and our second research question considered differences in reporting by geographic level. Our third research question examined differences in reporting on SDC and the national discourse during the first Trump administration. This type of research is particularly important when reporting primarily comes from the outside, overshadowing the voices of people experiencing detention. We consider implications for critical media literacy as an impetus for societal change
Promoting Digital Agriculture Adoption in Community-Based Agricultural Organizations
Get PDFExisting research and practice related to digital agriculture technology adoption is largely focused on large-scale producers. In this paper, we describe a case of adopting an advanced soil monitoring system in a community-based agricultural organization. We provide guidance for Extension professionals seeking to implement or promote digital agriculture technology adoption on: selecting appropriate technology, incorporating new technology into existing practices, harnessing local technology champions, and avoiding data-driven mission creep