Research & Resources
The research and presentations that inform JHC Mid-Atlantic's practice.
Doctoral research
Joseph A. Hayden's three-article dissertation for the Doctor of Education at Morgan State University (2026) examines how university-led and community-based sports programs align with equity and success in urban education for Black and Latinx youth.
Key definitions
Develops a conceptual framework integrating Community Cultural Wealth, Hilliard's Philosophy of Educational Excellence, culturally responsive ideology, and Sports-Based Youth Development, with literature-grounded indicators and a document review protocol.
Applies the framework to the publicly available materials of six programs, including America SCORES Cleveland, LiFEsports, and the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy, across academic supports, developmental routines, mentorship structures, and culturally responsive practices.
Translates the findings into guidance on program design, partnerships, and evaluation, presenting the operational indicators as self-assessment tools for strengthening program documentation.
What the analysis found
Sports-Based Youth Development principles and mentorship were the most consistently documented features across the six programs. Academic supports and culturally grounded practices appeared in every program but varied in clarity, and equity-centered concepts such as cultural grounding, institutional responsibility, and excellence were often implied rather than named.
The study analyzed public program documents. It treats documentation as a record of how programs communicate equity and success, not as a measure of program effectiveness.
What it means for program leaders
Featured presentation
Every program communicates before anyone registers, through its words, images, schedule, and signage. This session showed parks and recreation professionals how to find the unintended signals that keep people away, and how to address them with small, practical changes.
These are practical discussion tools from the presentation. They are not validated assessment instruments.
Before publishing any program announcement, ask:
Each stage is a place where people can quietly drop out:
DataSignalServiceAction
Start with who registered, attended, and returned. Compare that with who the program was designed for. Treat the gap as something to investigate, then choose the smallest change that removes a real barrier.
More presentations
How parks and recreation agencies can partner with universities, schools, and nonprofits to remove financial, cultural, and structural barriers to youth sport, with two case studies, a collaboration framework, and three action steps.
An overview of the county's revised accreditation and facility scheduling process for youth sports organizations, including equitable allocation criteria for public athletic fields.
A session on managing risk in sport and recreation facilities across six areas (administration, emergency response, supervision, training, facilities and equipment, and documentation), with practical guidance on emergency action plans, staff training, and waivers.
