This issue presents new thinking about the ways in which youth and parents are engaged in local reform, particular education reform, with the help of community organizations. Community groups examined in this volume advocate for and with youth in a variety of ways: through youth organizing, parent organizing, more traditional youth advocacy, and funding support. These organizations are critical in promoting youth's healthy development. They lobby to change policy and service delivery, connect diverse institutions that serve youth, push for more resources for youth, educate local officials about youth's needs, and empower parents and youth to become advocates in their own right. There is a ripple effect in these local efforts; not only do policies and political contexts change, but individual and communities themselves begin to change too. And although there are significant barriers to changing entrenched ideas about youth and their needs, the efforts discussed in these articles are having tangible results in many urban areas. This is the 117th volume of the Jossey-Bass quarterly report psychology series New Directions for Youth Development. New Directions for Youth Development is dedicated to bringing together everyone concerned with helping young people, including scholars, practitioners, and people from different disciplines and professions. The result is a unique resource presenting thoughtful, multi-faceted approaches to helping our youth develop into responsible, stable, well-rounded citizens.

Author Biography

Sarah Deschenes is a consultant who has been conducting research on education policy, community development, and out-of-school time for over a decade. She was also a postdoctoral fellow at the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities at Stanford University. Milbrey McLaughlin is the David Jacks Professor of Education and Public Policy at Stanford University, the founding director of the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities, and the codirector of the Center for Research on the Context of Teaching. Anne Newman is an assistant professor of education at Washington University in St. Louis, where her work focuses on educational philosophy and policy.