The educational values of the National Youth Administration work-program in Texas

There are three major divisions of the National Youth Administration program. One is a student work-program to enable college and high-school youth from sixteen to twenty-four years of age to continue their education; the second is a work-experience program to provide part-time employment for youth who are out of school and out of work; and the third is vocational guidance and assistance for those seeking jobs in private employment. By these means an attempt has been made to assist youth in their efforts to prepare themselves to earn a living. ... The major objectives of this study are to discover the educational values of the work-program itself and to determine the implications of the National Youth Administration program for secondary education. ... It was found that only two extensive studies of the National Youth Administration had been made; one at the University of Ohio, and the other for the state of New Hampshire. Since the studies mentioned were conducted for restricted areas in two sections of the country it is evident that the educational values of the National Youth Administration have not been determined for Texas or for the country as a whole. In this investigation evidence was sought which would determine whether or not the National Youth Administration program has real educational values to the individual, in addition to keeping him in school or off the streets and highways, and whether the value is enough to justify the continuation, under the present or other plans, of the more effective procedures developed by the National Youth Administration. An established program would enable the administrators to plan their projects earlier and to select students at an earlier date. It would give many students who would otherwise discontinue school the assurance of additional years of training and the opportunity provided by the NYA work-program over a period of years