Quantum Opportunities Program
The Quantum Opportunities Program (Quantum) is a comprehensive youth development program for disadvantaged adolescents that provides education, development activities, community service and financial incentives over a four-year period for youth in grades 9 to 12. Cohorts of youth are recruited into the program at the beginning of 9th grade and they continue in the program throughout high school.
Quantum owes its success to an intensive design that devotes an equal number of hours to educational achievement, youth development, and community service. The design requires high levels of commitment from both the participating teens and the program staff. According to the evaluation of demonstration sites, conducted by Brandeis University in 1995, “Quantum is substantially more complex, intensive, and comprehensive than traditional programs.”
The Milton S. Eisenhower Foundation has funded QOP replication programs at seven sites:
In November 2003, the Milton S. Eisenhower Foundation (MSEF) convened a group of evaluators, funders, and directors of QOP demonstration and replication sites to a two-day forum. The meeting focused on practical questions about how best to implement QOP and how to skillfully replicate the program on a larger scale. Their insights are telling, not only for providers of the QOP model, but to anyone involved in youth development. To read a summary report of the 2003 QOP Forum click here.
The basic guidelines for the replication of a Quantum Opportunities Program are outlined in the foundation replication manual.