Evaluation of the Teens, Crime and the Community and Community Works Program

• NCJ Number: 228277
• Author(s): Finn-Aage Esbensen
• Date Published: June 2009
• Length: 245 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2003-JN-FX-0003
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Award: Evaluation of Teens, Crime, and Community Program and Community Works Training

Annotation

This report presents the methodology and findings of the process and outcome evaluation of the school-based Teens, Crime, and the Community and Community Works (TCC/CW) program, which is a law-related classroom curriculum intended to prevent teen victimization and delinquency; engage youth in education and positive action; increase knowledge about crime, victimization, and crime prevention; and increase bonds between youth and community and school.

Abstract

The process evaluation determined that of the 15 schools in 9 cities in 4 States, only 4 of the schools complied with the minimum standards for how the program was to be implemented. The process evaluation found that the TCC/CW training generally failed to provide trainees with the necessary skills for teaching the program, and approximately 100 observations of classroom program delivery concluded that the program was not adequately implemented in terms of dosage, program adherence, and quality. Consequently, it was not surprising that the outcome evaluation, based on three data waves of student surveys, found an absence of the intended program effects. Given these disappointing results of the process and outcome evaluation, a change in evaluation design was proposed. One strategy of the redesigned evaluation was to focus on reasons for failure in program implementation, and a second strategy maximized the student data already collected by preparing several additional papers on the program's impact on diverse student populations (age and ethnicity). The process evaluation consisted of interviews, questionnaires, and observations of training and program delivery. The outcome evaluation involved a quasi-experimental five-wave panel study of public school students that began in the fall of 2004. Approximately 1,700 students representing 98 classrooms in the 15 schools were surveyed 3 times with pretests and posttests as well as a 1-year follow-up survey. 8 tables, 53 references, and 6 appendixes with supplementary information and evaluation tools