It is with great pleasure that we share information about the Youth Development Initiative (YDI) at Texas A&M University. YDI began in the spring of 2009 with a mission of meeting the needs of youth development professionals, faculty and students for science based information to improve youth program staff competencies, program design and evaluation. Our efforts focus on the following three areas:
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> Training, Education and Technical Assistance;
> Information Dissemination; and
> Research and Evaluation.
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> The YDI website (www.ydi.tamu.edu) provides ready access to available youth development best practice and research information. YDI also develops materials that translate existing information into user-friendly and quick reference formats. We intend to have new information added to the website on a regular basis.
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> We have just released the first volume in our Research Summary series which includes practitioner geared overviews of the most recent youth development research drawn from some of the top journals in our field. You can check out the research summary and other YDI produced resources by going to:
> http://www.ydi.tamu.edu/Briefs%20and%20Reports
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> If you would like to be part of the YDI listserv, please send a note to ydi@ag.tamu.edu and we would be happy to add you to the list. We try to keep our posts to no more than once per week…the posts are usually about updates to the YDI website.
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> AgriLife Extension at TAMU has supported our initial efforts, along with funding from the Bradberry Recreation and Youth Development Chair.
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> Comments and inquiries should be addressed to ydi@ag.tamu.edu. We hope you will find the website to be a valuable resource. If you are interested in contributing a research brief, let us know as well.
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> Mat Duerden, YDI Coordinator
> Peter Witt, Co-Chair YDI Executive Committee

“We must make educational accountability a public-health and safety issue. America was successful in nearly eradicating polio not because students found immunizations (or even the later foul-tasting sugar cubes) appealing. We stopped the dread disease because it was our collective duty to do so. If my neighbor’s children were not immunized, my own children were at risk, and vice versa. In the smaller world of the 21st century, the illiteracy of my neighbor’s children, whether my neighbor is in Mississippi, California, or New York, also puts my children at risk.”