Research

The University of California 4-H Youth Development Program has a unique role in youth development. The dual mission of 4-H is to engage youth in reaching their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development. Each informs and supports the other.

Practice: 4-H is consistent with scientifically valid research in youth development, education, child, human, and cognitive development. 4-H is able to demonstrate, or likely to demonstrate, through research and/or evaluative data, a positive impact on youth served.
Research: 4-H is a contributor to research and/or the extension of knowledge in youth development.

County based academics known as 4-H Youth Development Advisors engage in various research and evaluation projects. Often they are supported by or collaborate with the 4-H Center for Youth Development and/or other campus based faculty or specialists. These research and evaluation projects inform promising practice as well as contribute to the field of positive youth development and nonformal education.

We use our science base to anticipate problems and develop practical solutions in the communities we serve. By sharing our efforts with other professionals, we leverage additional resources and expand our impact.

To see current or past research projects or related publications and resources click here: Youth Development Research.

4-H Research and Evaluation Updates

Data source for California children
Posted 10/12/2011 - Kidsdata.org is a website managed by the Lucile Packard Foundation which provides local data on children in California. Some examples of recent posts on the site includes the cost of making ends meet for California families by county, information on...

Measuring program quality and youth outcomes
Posted 10/7/2011 - The Forum for Youth Investment produced a summary of tools for measuring program quality in 2009, Measuring Youth Program Quality. This report provided guidance on selecting an assessment tool for youth development programs, with information about...

Peter Benson
Posted 10/5/2011 - Youth development advocate and researcher Peter Benson of the Search Institute in Minnesota passed away on October 2 after a battle with cancer. Peter Benson wrote many books and articles about youth development, and helped to develop several important...