Youth Radio Science and Technology Program Evaluation

Youth Radio, an after-school media production program, consists of a main campus in Oakland, CA, and regional bureaus in Atlanta, GA, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, CA. Youth Radio’s model is to engage underserved young people in broadcast journalism, radio and web production, engineering, and media literacy through media projects that are relevant to the students’ lives and communities. In doing so, Youth Radio prepares young people for college programs and careers in media. The organization also supports young people in their transition from school to career through an externship program that offers students job shadowing and mentoring in media, technology and social justice institutions. In 2006, Youth Radio received funding from the National Science Foundation to create a Science and Technology Program that would substantially increase their students’ interactive engagement with STEM issues and expand the advanced technology training opportunities available to these youths. Researchers from Rockman et al (REA), the external evaluators, were charged with documenting Youth Radio’s efforts over the course of the grant and reporting the program’s achievements. REA staff worked closely with the Oakland program over the three years of the NSF grant and collected survey data from each bureau. In Year 3, REA staff conducted a series of case studies around key STEM initiatives, made a site visit to LA, and held a series of phone interviews with students and staff in Atlanta. The evaluation explored Youth Radio's model for engaging underserved young people with STEM learning through the gateway of hands-on media production. This report describes the process whereby Youth Radio successfully integrated into its existing programming STEM-related activities that were relevant for youth, insightful for staff and sustainable for the organization.