This resource was prepared in response to a request for information about the innovations and lessons learned as the result of the investments States have made in transforming their workforce using their Race to the Top -- Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) grants. These strategies and accomplishments will be helpful to other States as they…

Over the last few decades, college admission rates for Latinos have increased. However, the achievement gap between Latino students and other ethnic groups remains wide. Peer mentorship programs have shared in some degree of success in promoting the academic success of diverse and underrepresented student populations. Despite the growing…

Over the past three years, California State University, Bakersfield received NSF funding to support hands-on explorations in "network security" and "cryptography" through Research Experience Vitalizing Science-University Program (REVS-UP). In addition to the summer bridge component, the grant included development of…

Background: Growing health disparities have a negative impact on young people's educational achievement. Community schools that involve deep relationships with partners across multiple domains address these disparities by providing opportunities and services that promote healthy development of young people, and enable them to graduate from high…

Background: There has been little evaluation of school-located vaccination programs that offer human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in US schools without health centers (ie, extramural programs). This article summarizes lessons learned from such programs. Methods: In July to August 2010, 5 programs were identi?ed. Semistructured, in-depth telephone…

California's Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010 established transitional kindergarten (TK), the first year of a two-year kindergarten program for students affected by the change in the birthdate cutoff for entry into kindergarten from December 2 to September 1. This brief, the sixth in a series highlighting findings from the "Study of…

Lynette Brown-Snow, vice president of marketing and government relations for the Community College of Philadelphia, is one of several community college leaders across the country who have taken up one of the challenges proffered by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) in its 2012 report, "Reclaiming the American Dream:…

This article describes a relationship-based dance program, "Moving Parents and Children Together," and summarizes a 3-year study of teacher practice and parent-child interactions. Our work focuses on "relational engagement" in dance, which entails a person's basic motivation to connect plus a psychological investment in…

Using an innovation adaptation of the gap analysis approach of Richard Clark and Fred Estes, the collegiate First-Year Experience (FYE) consisting of comprehensive and intentional curricular and co-curricular initiatives was examined. Conceptualization and operationalization of the goal for a FYE program was based on 3 student development theories…

Based largely on interviews with stakeholders in California, New York, Tennessee, and West Virginia, this report describes how these states have established initiatives related to early college readiness assessments and transition curricula. It then compares the development of these interventions across states and identifies factors that have…

Two universities and their prospective partnership schools collected data to help ascertain the perceived readiness of school-university Professional Development School (PDS) partnerships. The measurement tool, ''The Professional Development School Exploration and Assessment'' (PDSEA) includes a five-step process that makes use of survey and focus…

This mixed-method study explored the alignment of expected student learning outcomes (SLOs) and expected student entrance skills, as stated within "course outlines of record" (CORs), for basic skills courses in one California community college district. Researchers evaluated consistencies and discrepancies in course alignment. There were…

We describe the development and initial evaluation of the efficacy of "We Have Skills!" (WHS), a video-based social skills instructional program for early elementary school students. The components of WHS were designed to be scientifically sound, maximally useful to elementary school teachers, and effective in increasing students' social…

This policy report provides an overview of the Common Core State Standards, how they were developed, the sources that were referenced in their development, the need for educational standards generally, what they entail, and what it will mean for educators to implement them. The report draws from research and reference material to outline the…

Despite some cuts to the nation's oldest Federal College Access Programs, known as the TRIO programs (e.g., Upward Bound), new education policies have emphasized college and career readiness. In 2010, Congress approved the College Access Challenge Grant Program, which aims to increase the number of low-income students who are ready for college.…