scholarly journals Evaluation of the Effectiveness of a Positive Youth Development Program for Secondary Students in Macau

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew L. Luk ◽  
K. M. Leong ◽  
Annah M. L. Au
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Students ◽  
Youth Development ◽  
Positive Youth Development ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Outcome Evaluation ◽  
Youth Development Program ◽  
Junior Secondary ◽  
Tier 1 ◽  
Outcome Evaluations ◽  
Objective Outcome

A well-tested comprehensive Chinese positive youth development program (Project P.A.T.H.S.) developed in Hong Kong has been modified and adapted for use in Macau. This program aims to help adolescent school children develop positively and to be better prepared for their future. The present study investigated the effectiveness of the Tier 1 Program of “P.A.T.H.S.” for Secondary 2 students of two pilot schools. Since there were “repeating” and “transferring” students joining the program, the effectiveness of the program on these particular groups of participants was also examined. The subjective outcome evaluations including participants' perceptions of the program, program instructors, benefits from the program, and overall satisfaction were positive. Although the longitudinal data from the objective outcome evaluation did not show any notable improvement, the overall effect of the program was found to be positive to the new comers in the junior secondary years. The existing evaluation findings suggest that the Secondary 2 program is especially effective to those newly joining the program. In view of the paucity of youth studies in Macau, the present study can contribute to evidence-based youth work and provide baseline data for the program to be evaluated in the Secondary 3 periods in the future.

scholarly journals Subjective Outcome Evaluation of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in Different Cohorts of Students

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T. L. Shek ◽  
Cecilia M. S. Ma
Keyword(s):  
Youth Development ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Outcome Evaluation ◽  
Subjective Outcome ◽  
Youth Development Program ◽  
School Year ◽  
Units Of Analysis ◽  
Junior Secondary ◽  
Tier 1 ◽  
Program Content

The project P.A.T.H.S. is an indigenously developed positive youth development program in Hong Kong. In the extension phase (2009/2010 school year), subjective outcome evaluation data were collected from 231 schools involving 89,068 participants after completion of the curricula-based Tier 1 Program. With schools as the units of analysis, results showed that participants generally had positive perceptions of the program content and implementers, with over four-fifth of the participants regarded the program as helpful to them. There were some significant grade differences in the subjective outcome evaluation findings, although the related effect size was not strong. Multiple regression analyses revealed that program content and program implementers predicted perceived effectiveness of the program. The present study suggests that irrespective of cohorts, students in the junior secondary years perceived the program to be beneficial to them.

scholarly journals Secondary Data Analyses of Subjective Outcome Evaluation Findings of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 2101-2111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T. L. Shek ◽  
Rachel C.F. Sun
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Youth Development ◽  
Positive Youth Development ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Outcome Evaluation ◽  
Subjective Outcome ◽  
Youth Development Program ◽  
Data Analyses ◽  
Secondary Analyses

The Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programmes) is a positive youth development program in Hong Kong. After completion of the program, program implementers were required to draw five conclusions based on the subjective outcome evaluation findings collected from the program participants and implementers as reported in the evaluation report. Secondary analyses of the data collected from 48 schools that had joined the Secondary 3 program showed that most of the conclusions concerning perceptions of the program, instructors, and effectiveness of the program were positive in nature. There were also conclusions indicating strengths and possible improvement of the program. The present findings are consistent with the previous findings that suggest that the Project P.A.T.H.S. is well received by the stakeholders and the program is beneficial to the development of Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong.

scholarly journals Impact of the Project P.A.T.H.S. in the Junior Secondary School Years: Individual Growth Curve Analyses

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 253-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T. L. Shek ◽  
Cecilia M. S. Ma
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Youth Development ◽  
Positive Youth Development ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Individual Growth ◽  
Implementation Phase ◽  
Junior Secondary School ◽  
Junior Secondary ◽  
Tier 1

The Tier 1 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social Programs) is a positive youth development program implemented in school settings utilizing a curricular-based approach. In the third year of the Full Implementation Phase, 19 experimental schools (n = 3,006 students) and 24 control schools (n = 3,727 students) participated in a randomized group trial. Analyses based on linear mixed models via SPSS showed that participants in the experimental schools displayed better positive youth development than did participants in the control schools based on different indicators derived from the Chinese Positive Youth Development Scale, including positive self-identity, prosocial behavior, and general positive youth development attributes. Differences between experimental and control participants were also found when students who joined the Tier 1 Program and perceived the program to be beneficial were employed as participants of the experimental schools. The present findings strongly suggest that the Project P.A.T.H.S. is making an important positive impact for junior secondary school students in Hong Kong.

scholarly journals A Case Study on the Implementation of a Positive Youth Development Program (Project P.A.T.H.S.) in a Changing Education Policy Environment

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 1010-1026 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tak Yan Lee
Keyword(s):  
Youth Development ◽  
Positive Youth Development ◽  
Program Implementation ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Implementation Process ◽  
Policy Environment ◽  
Youth Development Program ◽  
Tier 1

This investigation of the implementation of a positive youth development program (Project P.A.T.H.S.) was part of a large study undertaken comprehensively to explore how effective the Tier 1 Program was in practice and how the results can shed light on future developments. Case studies on randomly selected schools were conducted in order to examine the factors that influence the process and quality of implementation of the Tier 1 Program of the Project P.A.T.H.S. Through interviews with the school contact person and focus group interviews with the teachers, an integration of the findings of these studies showed that five factors related to the program, people, process, policy, and place (5 “P”s) facilitated the implementation process of the Tier 1 Program in the school. Based on the integrated findings of a randomly selected school, it was found that the school made use of the changes in the educational policy environment to facilitate school policy and structural changes, to pave the way for the success of the implementation of a new and “unfamiliar” curriculum. Overall, the quality of program implementation in the school was good and the program was well received by the program implementers. Implications of the present findings for future program implementation with reference to school administrative arrangements and implementation issues are also discussed.

Objective Outcome Evaluation of a Positive Youth Development Program: The Project P.A.T.H.S. in Hong Kong

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilia M. S. Ma ◽  
Daniel T. L. Shek
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Youth Development ◽  
Positive Youth Development ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Outcome Evaluation ◽  
Chinese Adolescents ◽  
Positive Development ◽  
Program Content ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Objective Outcome

Objective: The present study explored the outcomes of a positive youth development (PYD) program entitled “Project P.A.T.H.S.” based on a total of 12,281 Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong. Method: To understand the impact of this program, the study assessed the changes in developmental outcomes using a single group pretest and posttest design. Results: Findings showed that the participants displayed positive changes in PYD attributes, life satisfaction, and thriving after joining the program regardless of the program content. Conclusion: In conjunction with other studies, the study demonstrates the benefits of PYD programs in promoting positive development in Chinese adolescents.

Evaluation of a community-based positive youth development program based on Chinese junior school students in Hong Kong

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T.L. Shek ◽  
Cecilia M.S. Ma ◽  
Qiuzhi Xie
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Youth Development ◽  
Positive Youth Development ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Outcome Evaluation ◽  
Social Program ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Youth Development Program ◽  
Program Content

Abstract This study investigated students’ evaluations of a positive youth development program entitled Project P.A.T.H.S. (Positive Adolescent Training through Holistic Social program) in Hong Kong. The participants were 19,790 Secondary 1, 2 and 3 students who joined this program at the extension phase of the project. They were required to complete a subjective outcome evaluation form to indicate their perceptions of the program content, instructors, and effectiveness. Results showed that the students evaluated this program positively. Amongst the students in the three grades, Secondary 1 students evaluated the program most favorably whereas Secondary 3 students had the relatively least favorable evaluation. In addition, the program content and instructors accounted for approximately 35% of the variance in program effectiveness. The findings generally imply the successful implementation of this program in the community-based phase.

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