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This report describes a demonstration project designed to help at-risk young people with literacy problems. The report suggests that young people with poor literacy skills are less likely to finish high school and are at risk of other personal and social problems. It also notes that research has shown that comprehensive and holistic approaches to teaching and guidance can be effective in helping these young people find success in both their schooling and life in general. The demonstration school, funded by the Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) Literacy Secretariat and Crime Prevention Centre, operated in Surrey, British Columbia, for three years and was facilitated by Literacy British Columbia (Literacy BC). Its goals were to: identify effective practices for educating at-risk youth with low literacy skills; build a practical teaching and support model that could be effectively operated by other school districts; and develop a set of approaches and teaching tools that can be used by other literacy practitioners, both inside and outside the public school system. The program targeted at-risk youth aged 15 and 16 who had either dropped out of school or were likely to. It combined literacy development, academic subjects, social and emotional development, and art and technology in a two-year program designed to help students improve a wide range of skills and reintegrate into the school system. The report describes the approach to learning and research, and results and challenges faced by researchers, practitioners and students. It notes that, not only did students return to and remain in school, their reading levels increased significantly and their ability to succeed in school and in life improved markedly. The report concludes that the effects of low-literacy levels and at-risk behaviours among young adults carry on well beyond their adolescence, and so the lessons learned and strategies developed through the demonstration project are also relevant to adult education providers and social service agencies working with young adults who have limited literacy skills and continue to be at-risk. Show less