Perceived Behavioral and Academic Competence in Middle Childhood: Influences of a Community-Based Youth Development Program

The current study reports findings from a longitudinal project that investigated ways in which a comprehensive youth development program might support social and academic competence and reduce aggression in middle childhood for students living in public housing. I compared children residing at two public housing complexes in southern California who participated in the 4H Afterschool Activity Program with another group of resident children who were not 4H members (N= 86). Measures of perceived academic and social competence were completed by the students, their teachers, and their primary caretakers. Results demonstrated stronger program effects for perceived behavioral competence than for academic competence. Findings are discussed in terms of the need for explicit programmatic emphasis on the development of academic competence in participants, similar to the current program emphasis on school appropriate behavior. Perceived Behavioral and Academic Competence in Middle Childhood: Influences ofa Community-Based Youth Development Program Youth residing in public housing confront a host of challenges to their academic and social success, as well as to their very safety and survival. Families who are eligible for public housing are by definition at the very bottom of the SES spectrum and often are people of color. Thus, their children typically experience the plethora of social injustice and educational risk factors that have been so frequently documented for poor, ethnic minority children living in urban areas (e.g., poorly equipped schools, poorly prepared teachers, disproportionate placement in special education, limited parental presence at school) (Irvine, 1990). -----