Overview

CAYCI Impact & Contributions

Since its creation, CAYCI has been productive in various ways such as through publications, presentations, and other scholarly work. There are multiple indicators of success. Examples of CAYCI impact and contributions since 2005 are summarized here.

• CAYCI prioritizes the generation of new knowledge—publishing 41 peer-reviewed articles in journals such as Journal of Education for Students Placed At Risk, Journal of Sport Management, Research on Social Work Practice, Children and Youth Social Services Review, Children & Schools, Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, School Mental Health, and the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. Half of these articles represent research conducted in school settings, 22% examine youth sport, 15% explore innovations in afterschool or positive youth development programs, 10% are measurement papers and 3% focus on community and family systems.
• CAYCI work also includes 9 editor or editorial board reviewed articles have been published in journals such as The Prevention Researcher, The Community Psychologist, and Children & Schools. In addition, 15 chapters have been written in books such as Handbook of School Mental Health, The School Services Sourcebook: A Guide for School-Based Professionals, and the Encyclopedia of Adolescence. Research has been highlighted in 4 conference proceedings.
• CAYCI has published multiple products that synthesize evaluation findings and/or provide guidance for others related to implementation processes. Since 2015, 16 technical assistance guides and monographs have been written, all to support the adoption and implementation of evidence-based practices in the field. Further, 33 evaluations reports have been produced that document barriers, facilitators, innovations, and outcomes resulting from various projects focused on positive youth development, school improvement, school-family-community partnerships, afterschool programming, and youth sport.
• Dissemination of research and evidence-based practices at conferences, as well as in workshops for professionals working in the field, is an ongoing priority for CAYCI. A total of 164 presentations have been done at international (6%), national (42%), regional (4%), state (13%), and local venues (35%).
• Team-based collaboration and student development are central to the work of CAYCI. Authorship on peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, presentations, and various reports is one way to examine the depth of engagement of others in CAYCI work. In the last 10 years, 40 different faculty (outside of CAYCI Director, Anderson-Butcher), 50 community partners and/or university staff, and 48 students have been co-authors on CAYCI-related products. The Director, Dawn Anderson-Butcher, has published 13 single-authored products, and presented solo on 22 occasions.
• Building the capacity of students is a priority at CAYCI. Each year we engage over 260 OSU students across 14 different units in teaching/learning, research, and outreach activities in the OSU LiFE Sports Initiative. In the past 10 years, 10 students have completed theses or capstone projects, and 5 have completed dissertations affiliated with CAYCI work.
• CAYCI is proud of its graduates. Eight past students who worked in CAYCI hold university faculty positions, mostly at Research 1 Institutions such as University of South Carolina, Auburn University, State University of New York-Buffalo, and the University of Kansas. We also have several graduates who are employed in youth service settings, such as with Girls On The Run, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Schools (Bishop Watterson, Dublin City Schools, Columbus City Schools), Regional Educational Service Centers, and in local non-profits (After-School All-Stars, Directions for Youth and Families, etc).
• In the past 10 years, CAYCI has secured external funding from 21 different entities to support research, program design and implementation, evaluation, and capacity-building efforts. A total of $6,168,284 has been generated. Funding has been specific to projects in schools (67%), positive youth development and afterschool (23%), youth sport (5%), and the community and family setting (5%). Other dollars have been generated internal to the university but are not included in these funds (for instance, in-kind supports from Athletics, CSW, Recreational Sports, and Outreach & Engagement to support OSU LiFE Sports).