By Rebecca Meyer The world is facing a shortage of professionals to enter into the STEM workforce, but our young people are also racing to catch up to the necessary skills and capabilities they need to fulfill this shortage. Earlier this fall the Minnesota Department of Education reported that students in Minnesota are not performing at expected levels, as test scores for reading and science dipped while math recorded a small increase. But the slight increase in math scores is still overall lower than pre-pandemic results. Minnesota is not alone in this. This trend in test scores is similar across the United States. While regaining content knowledge and skills are needed, interpersonal skills are also important. 4-H and other non-formal youth organizations have critical roles to play in engaging young people in high quality experiences that both build key content knowledge and skills and help them regain key aptitudes. They are also uniquely positioned to strengthen meaningful in...
Our youth development educators bridge research and practice. In this blog, they offer their views on what's happening in the field of youth development, with an eye to evidence-based research written by themselves and others in our field. We welcome your comments.