Experimental studies have shown that youth development programs can be effective in improving academic outcomes as well. For instance, the Teen Outreach Program was developed to prevent teen pregnancy and academic failure among high school students (Allen, Philliber, Herrling, & Kuperminc, 1997). The program used a youth development approach combined with a prevention-focused approach, and included activities such as volunteering, tutoring, as well as classroom discussions about social issues and services.

Yet, not all youth development programs have been able to improve adolescents' academic achievement. The programs below, which were all evaluated experimentally, have shown mixed effectiveness in improving the academic achievement of their adolescent participants in comparison to control group students. For example, grades of program participants in Children at Risk, the Quantum Opportunities Program (QOP) and the Summer Training and Education Program (STEP), and Upward Bound, which are described below, were not found be significantly higher than those of control group youth.

The first program, Children at Risk was targeted toward middle school students living in disadvantaged neighborhoods. The program components were many and varied as the program used a whole-community approach involving school services, community and social services, and out-of-school activities. For instance, the program provided community-enhanced policing, intensive case management, juvenile justice intervention, family services, afterschool and summer program activities, tutoring and homework educational services, mentoring, and monetary incentives. Although program participants did not have higher grades than control group youth, the program did have a positive effect on adolescents' achievement, with those attending the Children at Risk program less likely to repeat a grade in school than control group youth (Harrell, Cavanaugh, & Sridharan, 1999). A second program, STEP, provided summer jobs and education remediation activities to disadvantaged high school students during the summer and offered some services during the school year. Although the STEP program was effective in increasing test scores of adolescents who participated in the program in the short-term evaluation, these effects faded by the time of the long-term evaluation. Evaluators believed that although the summer program was effective in preventing students from losing academic skills over the summer, the summer intervention may not have been long enough to have long-lasting effects (Grossman & Sipe, 1992). The third program, QOP, was targeted towards disadvantaged high school students. QOP offered a variety of activities, including tutoring, computer assisted instruction, homework assistance, life/family skills training, college preparation activities, community service participation, and financial incentives. Although program participants' grades were not significantly different from those of youth in the control group, their academic skills were rated higher. Finally, a fourth program, Upward Bound, is a program targeted toward low-income high school students whose parents did not attend college. Participants in this program were offered academic assistance and college preparation training along with academic and other classes. During the summer months, participants attend a program and are often housed in a college campus (Myers & Schrim, 1999).