Measuring and Understanding Authentic Youth Engagement - The Youth-Adult Partnership Rubric

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Stanley

Measuring and Understanding Authentic Youth Engagement presents the Youth-Adult Partnership (Y-AP) model used in out-of-school time programs, defining it as sustained, shared democratic action by multiple youth and adults aimed at social justice and community issue resolution. It contrasts Y-AP with traditional youth-as-service-recipient approaches and summarizes how youth leadership roles support autonomy, empowerment, civic engagement, and social-emotional skill development. The article details development of the Y-AP rubric, four core elements, and how the rubric addresses gaps in existing assessment tools.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Measuring and Understanding Authentic Youth Engagement

The Youth-Adult Partnership Rubric

Defining Youth-Adult Partnership (Y-AP)

Youth roles and developmental outcomes

Developing the Y-AP rubric

Program quality, fidelity, and assessment gaps

Measuring and Understanding Authentic Youth Engagement The Youth-Adult Partnership Rubric Heng-Chieh Jamie Wu, Mariah Kornbluh, John Weiss, and Lori Roddy Commonly described as youth-led or youth-driven, the youth-adult partnership (Y-AP) model has gained increasing popularity in out-of-school time (OST) programs in the past two decades (Larson, Walker, & Pearce, 2005; Zeldin, Christens, & Powers, 2013) . The Y-AP model is deﬁned as“the practice of (a) multiple youth and multiple adults deliberating and acting together (b) in a collective (democratic) fashion (c) over a sustained period of time (d) through shared work (e) intended to promote social justice, strengthen an organization and/or afﬁrmatively address a community issue”(Zeldin et al. , 2013, p. 388) . Unlike traditional OST programs, in which youth are viewed as service recipients, the Y-AP model emphasizes that youth serve in meaningful leadership roles in the organization or program. Studies show that programs using a Y-AP model have offered youth such diverse and meaningful roles as being youth council members, activity leaders, or program representatives in community events (Zeldin, Camino, & Mook, 2005) . Research has also found that these experiences facilitate the development of youth autonomy (Akiva, Cortina, & Smith, 2014) , which is a critical developmental need for adolescence. These leadership roles also contribute to youths’empowerment and civic engagement, develop social-emotional skills, HENG-CHIEH JAMIE WU, PhD, is a research associate at University Outreach and Engagement, Michigan State University, with more than 10 years of experience in youth program evaluation. She currently serves as co-principal investigator for the statewide evaluation of Michigan 21st Century Community Learning Centers. MARIAH KORNBLUH, PhD, is a postdoctoral scholar at the School of Human Ecology in the department of civil society and community research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She received her doctorate in ecological-community psychology from Michigan State University. JOHN WEISS, MPP, MUP, became director of strategic initiatives atthe Neutral Zone, Ann Arbor’s teen center, after serving for 10 years as its executive director. The Neutral Zone has provided training and coaching to more than 50 afterschool and school-based programs to support adoption of its “youth-driven spaces” approach. LORI RODDY, MSW, is executive director of the Neutral Zone, where she has worked over the past 12 years to integrate youth-driven arts and leadership opportunities. She has also supported training and coaching on the Neutral Zone’s approach to youth-driven spaces. and bring about positive changes in communities (Akiva Development of the Y-AP Rubric et al. , 2014; Ferguson, Kim, & McCoy, 2011; Larson With support from an Edmund A. Stanley, Jr. , research & Angus, 2011; Wong, Zimmerman, & Parker, 2010; grant from the Robert Bowne Foundation, in spring 2014, Youniss & Levine, 2009) . this article’s authors—researchers from Michigan State Although the concept of Y-AP has been well re- University’s (MSU) Ofﬁce of University Outreach and ceived, implementing it without Engagement and directors from the clinegarZguideeldinliannes cd coalnlebageucesha(l2leng013)- In their deﬁnition, the Y-AP Neutcenterra—l Zfoonerme, a cd aommunprojectityte-baamsetdo reviewed Y-AP practices in commu- model consists of four co-develop the rubric. The Neunity settings (Camino, 2005; Lar- critical elements: (a) tral Zone is a nonproﬁt organizason & Angus, 2011; Van Egeren, authentic decision making, tion serving teens in Ann Arbor, Wunect,e&d iKtosrrnbooltusht,o20d1e2ve)laondpmceonn-tal (b) natural mentors,(c) Mknichigownanfo.rEstablishits youthe-ddinriv1e9n98mo, itdeils: theories such as Dewey’s (1938) reciprocal activity, and (d) Youth take leadership roles in all experiential learning, Erikson’s community connectedness levels of the organization. The cen-(1968) identity

FAQs

How is the Youth-Adult Partnership (Y-AP) model defined in the article?

Y-AP is defined as multiple youth and multiple adults deliberating and acting together in a collective, democratic fashion over a sustained period through shared work intended to promote social justice and address community issues.

What developmental needs and outcomes are linked to youth leadership in Y-AP programs?

The article links youth leadership roles to the development of youth autonomy, empowerment, civic engagement, and social-emotional skills that support adolescent development.

What are the four critical elements of the Y-AP rubric?

The rubric is organized around four elements: authentic decision making, natural mentors, reciprocity, and community connectedness.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Stanley