About Us
Program Areas
Events
Publications
Search
American Youth Policy Forum: Bridging Youth Policy, Practice and Research
The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) is a non-profit, non-partisan, professional development organization providing learning opportunities for policymakers on youth issues at the national, state and local levels.

What's New

AYPF Employment Opportunity

Website and Database Coordinator - Closing date: September 11, 2009

Upcoming Events

Friday, October 23, 2009 - Tribal Youth Programs:  Empowering Youth in Indian Country

Webinars

State Plans for STEM: Building Consensus, Designing the Plan, and Aligning Initiatives: This webinar addresses how Pennsylvania and Minnesota have developed their state plans for STEM education.

Publications

AYPF Issue Brief: Advancing STEM Learning across the Educational Pipeline: Statewide Efforts in Ohio: This issue brief is focused on state efforts to improve education in science, technology, engineering, and math - collectively known as the “STEM” disciplines. The brief is largely based on a March, 2009 AYPF field trip to Columbus and Dayton, Ohio, and describes Ohio’s success in advancing STEM education across the state. This issue brief frames the overall issue of STEM education and describes the elements of Ohio’s STEM strategy, including building a statewide STEM agenda; creating the capacity to advance a STEM agenda; the role of communication and visibility in advancing STEM education; a regional approach to STEM education; approaches and challenges to STEM education at the school level; and the lessons to be learned from Ohio’s work. The brief concludes with state policy recommendations for advancing STEM education. (September 2009)

 

Moving English Language Learners to College- and Career-Readiness: This issue brief explores effective educational models for serving English Language Learners (ELLs) in ways that build upon these students’ assets and prepare them for college and careers.  The brief derives from an AYPF fact-finding trip to Texas’s Rio Grande Valley region.  The trip, conducted in May 2009, focused on how two school districts in the region, Hidalgo Independent School District (HISD) and Pharr San-Juan Alamo (PSJA) Independent School District, have implemented effective, asset-based programs to promote the educational and career success of ELLs. The issue brief provides background information on federal legislation affecting ELL students, an overview of the models that are being implemented in the Rio Grande Valley region, and recommendations for future federal legislation

Career and Technical Education Issue Brief AYPF Issue Brief on Career and Technical Education: This brief is based largely on the November 2008 field trip for state policy leaders to Sacramento, CA, which was conducted by AYPF in conjunction with the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices.  The focus was on California’s initiatives around CTE, and the trip was exclusively for states selected by NGA’s Center for Best Practices to participate in their Policy Academy on Career and Technical Education. While the brief does not address every issue involved with CTE, it does highlight issues that California is addressing that we learned about during the trip, such as the importance of legislative support to promote change, the development of the CTE model curriculum standards and framework, teacher credentialing and professional development, and the necessity of engaging the higher education community in CTE reform.

Learning Around the  Clock:  Benefits of Expanded Learning Opportunities for Older Youth is an easy-to-read guide designed to help national, state, and local policymakers and practitioners better understand the wide-array of benefits ELOs provide and the programmatic and structural elements of successful ELOs.  Included in Learning Around the Clock:  Benefits of Expanded Learning Opportunities for Older Youth are profiles of 22 ELOs that have proven results for youth across a range of indicators.  “Expanded Learning Opportunity” is used to describe the range of programs and activities available to young people that occur beyond regular school hours.  ELOs include traditional afterschool activities with an academic focus, but also incorporate activities such as internships with employers, independent study in alternative settings, classes on college campuses for high school students, and wraparound support services. (March 2009)

Projects

Forum Series: The Role of Career and Technical Education in High School Reform [Webcasts Available]

 

More

Download April's  e-bulletin

Download May's  e-bulletin

Download June's e-bulletin

Download July's  e-bulletin