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In 2004-2005 the American Camp Association
completed a Program Improvement Project
with twenty-three ACA-accredited camps
to learn what strategies and approaches
would help strengthen the experiences of
youth in four important developmental areas:
| Supportive
Relationships |
| Safety (emotional
and physical) |
| Youth Involvement
(including decision-making and leadership) |
| Skill Building |
Most of the camps experienced improvement
in one or more of these areas and their
associated domains. We learned that:
| Camps of all types
increased the benefits for campers
by specifically targeting improvement
areas and using a continuous improvement
process. |
| In fact, 83% of
camps in ACA’s study showed significant
improvement in one or more dimensions
vital to positive camper development.
These dimensions included areas such as
peer relationships, emotional safety,
decision making, and challenging activities. |
| Getting feedback
from campers and staff on their perceptions
of camp programs, procedures, and relationships
is critical to developing strategies
that will work in camp. |
| Simply selecting
another camp’s strategies is
not nearly as effective as using a
process for self-examination that results
in strategies that are designed by
campers and staff and intentionally
applied to the camp setting. |
| To improve the likelihood
of having a positive impact on camper
growth, strategies need to integrated
into the camp’s structures, policies,
and activities. |
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| Innovations
- View the results (PDF
- 3.5MB) |
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