NCJ Number
199119
Date Published
July 2002
Length
85 pages
Annotation
In presenting the steps followed in conducting the Planning Project for the Educational Assessment Survey of Youth in Residential Placement (EASYRP), this report details key activities that were undertaken, characterizes the experiences and lessons learned during the project, and outlines the next steps that should be taken before undertaking a national survey.
Abstract
The central goal of the EASYRP is to collect and disseminate information that will assist the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), other juvenile justice policymakers, and juvenile justice program administrators in their mission to provide appropriate, safe, and accountable programming for youth in custody. This effort complements other data collection efforts by providing a comprehensive picture of these youth, the settings in which they are placed, their educational experiences prior to coming into custody, their current educational functioning level, and their experiences in custody. The purpose of the EASYRP Planning Project was to develop a detailed plan for the national EASYRP design and assess its workability in small group administration in residential facilities. One chapter of this report on the project outlines the efforts to identify appropriate instruments to assess math and reading skills. These assessments will be the key to the effective implementation of the EASYRP, as well as the responses to all the research questions. This chapter also contains information on both the strengths and weaknesses of the assessments selected. Another chapter describes the development and testing of the interview format that addresses three of the research questions. A third chapter profiles the possible linkages for the joint administration of both the Survey of Youth in Residential Placement (SYRP) and EASYRP surveys. A fourth chapter highlights the sample design proposed for the survey, followed by a chapter that describes the methodology proposed for the national EASYRP administration. Findings from the EASYRP feasibility test are presented in the next chapter, as well as recommendations derived from that test. The final chapter assesses the potential value of the EASYRP as a part of the current constellation of OJJDP data collections in the context of the findings from the six tasks that were conducted in the Planning Project. This chapter also recommends a national field test for the EASYRP. 4 tables and appended evaluation of education assessment instruments against EASYRP criteria and the revised EASYRP interview