Teen Reading Lounge, Beyond Books-Impacting Identity Development & Civic Engagement Among Urban African American Youth Pilot Project
What We Do
This project will examine racial/ethnic inequality by investigating the impact of the Teen Reading Lounge (TRL) as an out-of-school time (OST) intervention for African American youth in Philadelphia. This pilot will offer data on how a culturally-attuned OST program can support the social and behavioral needs of African American youth.
TRL is a humanities-based program of the Pennsylvania Humanities Council (PHC) designed to encourage teen reading and support the development of 21st century skills. Through a partnership with the Philadelphia Department of Humans Services (DHS) this project will introduce TRL to OST sites that serve students who attend public, private and parochial schools in the City of Philadelphia by training the staff to facilitate TRL with enrolled youth. This research seeks to address the following questions:
- How does TRL impact the identity development processes and civic engagement of African American youth ages 12-18?
- Does involvement in TRL increase interest in literacy and what 21st Century Learning Skills are developed as a result of such involvement?