Seeing It Through: Advanced Strategies for Influencing Education Policy

Education and Literacy, Government Reform, Nonprofits and Philanthropy

Seeing It Through: Advanced Strategies for Influencing Education Policy

Outlines recommendations from a May 2009 Education Grantmakers Institute about the opportunities and risks of public policy grantmaking, navigating policy from federal to individual levels, funding research, acting as policy entrepreneurs, and evaluation.

August 1970

Geographic Focus: North America-United States

Smallest Victims of the Foreclosure Crisis: Children in the District of Columbia

Children and Youth, Community and Economic Development, Education and Literacy, Housing and Homelessness

Smallest Victims of the Foreclosure Crisis: Children in the District of Columbia

Examines trends in the number of public school students affected by the foreclosure crisis, their demographic characteristics, and concentration by neighborhood or school. Discusses implications for housing and education agencies and providers.

August 1970

Geographic Focus: North America-United States (Southern)-District of Columbia-Washington

Building a Campaign for Reading Reform in Miami

Community and Economic Development;Education and Literacy

Building a Campaign for Reading Reform in Miami

Presents a case study of community organizing for school reform by Miami's People Acting for Community Together: how its campaign for a new literacy program shaped leadership development, district-level policy, school-level capacity, and student outcomes.

August 1970

Geographic Focus: North America / United States (Southern) / Florida;North America / United States (Southern) / Florida / Miami/Dade County / Miami

Measure of America 2010-2011: Mapping Risks and Resilience (Key Findings)

Education and Literacy;Health;Poverty

Measure of America 2010-2011: Mapping Risks and Resilience (Key Findings)

Key findings from this second national human development report for the U.S. reveal new information on three core indicators of well-being and access to opportunity: life expectancy, median personal earnings, and access to education.

Broken down into state and congressional district-levels, as well as for race and ethnicities and genders, we found startling disparities within the nation:

  • In the 2007 -- 9 Great Recession, college graduates faced a combined unemployment and underemployment rate of 1 in 10; the rate for high school dropouts was greater than 1 in 3.
  • An African American baby born today in DC has a life expectancy 12 years shorter than that of a white baby, at 71 years.
  • Asian Americans in Connecticut have an average life span 26 years longer than Native Americans in South Dakota.
  • Men earn more than women across all racial and ethnic groups, with the greatest disparity among whites, at $15,500 a year.

The full report concludes with a set of recommendations for priority actions required to improve scores on the Index, and to address pressing issues and close the stark gaps that continue to separate groups.

August 1970

Geographic Focus: North America / United States

Milwaukee Public School teachers link preschool to better performance in Kindergarten

Education and Literacy

Milwaukee Public School teachers link preschool to better performance in Kindergarten

A survey of Milwaukee Kindergarten teachers finds nearly all (97%) report they can generally tell early in the school year which children attended preschool and which did not. Teachers also feel that those who attended preschool typically perform much better in Kindergarten and at least somewhat better after that. The survey of 77 teachers of five-year-old Kindergarten (K5) in the Milwaukee public school district (MPS) also finds that most teachers (93%) feel children with preschool or four-year-old Kindergarten (K4) backgrounds are somewhat to much better prepared to enter K5 than their peers. In addition, the majority (83%) feel spending time in preschool or K4 is very important prior to entering K5. These findings hold true for teachers in schools with higher-than-average enrollments of low-income children, as well as teachers in schools with fewer low-income children.

August 1970

Geographic Focus: North America-United States (Midwestern)-Wisconsin-Milwaukee County-Milwaukee

When Business Gets Involved: A case study of business community involvement in Illinois' early childhood education policy

Education and Literacy

When Business Gets Involved: A case study of business community involvement in Illinois' early childhood education policy

As the first state to offer universal preschool to three?year?olds, Illinois' experience with early childhood education (ECE) policy reform efforts offers valuable lessons about how such change takes shape. The confluence of factors includes well?organized advocacy groups, the endurance to continue efforts over decades, a supportive governor, and an engaged business community. The description below details Illinois' ECE activities from 1992 to the present, with a particular focus on the business role in ECE policy. Chicago Metropolis 2020 was the main business group involved in ECE efforts, but, significantly, advocates and politicians also continuously cast the issues in language that would motivate economic and business interests.

August 1970

Geographic Focus: North America-United States (Midwestern)-Illinois

Price of Quality: Estimating the cost of a higher quality earlychildhood care and education system for Southeast Wisconsin, The

Children and Youth, Education and Literacy, Parenting and Families

Price of Quality: Estimating the cost of a higher quality earlychildhood care and education system for Southeast Wisconsin, The

Throughout the United States, investments in high-quality early childhood education are seen by community leaders as a strategy for improving outcomes in areas such as K-12 education, workforce development, and economic development. Indeed, many research studies conclude that high quality early learning environments produce social, educational, and economic benefits for children and the communities in which they live. As a result, many state and local governments around the country are seeking to capture these benefits by investing in quality improvement efforts. Wisconsin is no different; the 2009-2010 state biennial budget calls for the Department of Children and Families to create a strategy for improving the quality of publicly-subsidized child care. While policymakers increasingly are looking to maximize the benefits of high-quality early childhood education, budget realities often dictate that they do so while minimizing the expenditure of public funds. Thus, this report seeks to inform these decisions in Wisconsin by estimating the costs of achieving improved quality in child care and early learning programs in southeast Wisconsin and analyzing policy options associated with quality improvement initiatives.

August 1970

Geographic Focus: North America-United States (Midwestern)-Wisconsin (Southeastern)

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