Birmingham, AL
Director - Risper Mwangi
1229 3rd Ave. North
Birmingham, AL 35203
(205) 326-0162
The Birmingham Quantum Opportunities Program, housed in the Birmingham Urban League, is currently working with a cohort of 30 second-year participants, as discussed in the attached Birmingham news articles.
One of the great attributes of the Birmingham Quantum Opportunities Program is the use of the Quantum participants as near-peers in the Birmingham Youth Safe Haven-Police Ministation. Quantum high school youth come together in a meaningful mentorship role with the 6-12 year old participants of the Youth Safe Haven-Police Ministation. The near-peer volunteering by the Quantum youth helps meet the youth leadership and advocacy component of the Quantum Program.
The average daily attendance in Spring 2006 was at 55%, which is considered to be a success for the program given the lack of transportation in the Birmingham area and the challenges this poses on youth’s ability to attend the program on regular basis. Because of the interest by youth in the program, we will purchase a van specifically designated for transportation of the Quantum Opportunities participants.
With many of the parents having little or no high school or college education, there has been a noticeable difference between the value of education as perceived by the families of Quantum participants and the value of education that the Birmingham Quantum staff is trying to instill. Therefore, in Fall 2006 outreach has begun with parents to continue the ongoing dialogue regarding their children’s participation in the Quantum Program. The Urban League has also intensified efforts to get parents connected to the educational resources offered by the League.
From past Eisenhower evaluations of Quantum programs, we know that the academic impact of the program does not generally appear until the third semester. This is partially due to the fact that transition to high school represents a difficult developmental shift for many youth. Hence, most youth need anywhere from 6 to 18 months to adjust to new surroundings, new academic expectations and new social roles. This appears to be the trend in Birmingham. Youth attending Quantum had higher core grades in Spring 2006 than did their counterparts in the control group but the difference is not yet statistically significant.
From previous Eisenhower research and youth outcome evaluations, we also know that youth’s participation in Quantum tends to lead to better commitment to school, such as an improvement in school attendance. By the end of their freshman year, significantly more Birmingham Quantum youth than youth in the control group improved their school attendance. As research in developmental and school psychology has shown, youth who exhibit higher commitment to school are also more likely to do well academically and we expect to see in our future evaluations that this trend holds true for our Quantum youth in Birmingham.