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In this article, the author draws on a study of an after-school initiative serving inner-city high school students to describe and reflect on ways in which apprenticeship-like experiences support work on a variety of developmental tasks. The author describes key dimensions of the apprenticeship experience, discusses challenges faced by instructors, and reflects on possible effects on participants. Findings suggest that, in addition to strengthening disciplinespecific knowledge and skills and, more selectively, skills needed for carrying out complex tasks, apprenticeship-like learning experiences have interesting self-effects. These experiences lead at least some apprentices to take more responsibility for themselves, to learn to attend more deeply, to learn about themselves, to learn that it is OK to do new things, and to learn that expressing one's thoughts, emotions, or doubts honestly will not have negative consequences. At the same time, apprentices'growth is tentative. Shifting habits, predispositions, and dominant feelings (about oneself and others) is difficult work.

This article presents the findings of a year-long, qualitative study of a network of neighborhood youth programs in a low-income, Latino neighborhood in Chicago. It discusses the characteristics of youth served by the programs, the programs' daily functioning, how youth workers construct and carry out their roles, the nature of youth-worker-youth relationships, and implementation issues. The authors also reflect on the strengths and limitations of the programs, and their role in the lives of youth served.