The purpose of this study was two-fold. It was first to find out what the educational materials needs were for children living in poverty, and second, to learn of the challenges, obstacles, and strengths by the programs already in place that were supplying educational materials to these children. This study used interviews and surveys as data…

Making Connections was the Annie E. Casey Foundation's signature place-based, community-change initiative of the 2000s. It sought to build on previous work and launch an effort focused firmly on the framework of family strengthening. The Foundation started Making Connections in 22 places, focusing eventually on first 10, then seven sites. It…

This executive summary presents the broadest look yet at a growing trend in America's cities: the emergence of city-led efforts to build comprehensive afterschool and out-of-school time (OST) systems that meet the needs of children and youth in their communities. Mayors and other municipal officials who have demonstrated leadership in this area…

In the fall of 2009, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded a three-year project proposed by the International Baccalaureate (IB) to demonstrate the feasibility of increasing the participation of minority students and students in poverty in its Middle Years Programme (MYP) and Diploma Programme (DP) in selected school districts in the…

This article provides analysis of a site-based professional development model that is grounded in teacher best practices. Developed by the administration and teacher leaders of a racially/ethnically, socioeconomically, linguistically and academically diverse school in the USA, the teacher-centered coaching model described is an example of an…

The report describes a project to design, implement, and evaluate a Florida training program to improve the effectiveness of vocational educators who work with disadvantaged youth and adults. The major objectives were to increase vocational educators': (1) understanding of the needs and nature of various disadvantaged populations; (2) awareness of…

This report presents an evaluation of Florida's College Reach-Out Program (CROP) and data on the 1991-92 cohort of institutions and students which the program serves. CROP is a state-wide program designed to increase the number of students successfully completing postsecondary education by providing disadvantaged students in grades 6 through 12…

This is the fourth report of a process evaluation of Palm Beach County Prime Time, Inc., an intermediary organization dedicated to improving the quality of afterschool programs, by Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. It covers the 2007-2008 program year, which was the inaugural year of Prime Time's formal Quality Improvement System (QIS)…

This report presents an evaluation of Florida's College Reach-Out Program (CROP) and data on the 1992-93 cohort of institutions and students that the program serves. CROP is a state-wide program designed to increase the number of students successfully completing postsecondary education by providing academic enrichment opportunities and career…

This was the first phase of a continuing evaluation of a Community College Studies Program designed to provide educational opportunities for the academically under-prepared student. The subject college had always had a remedial program of some type, but it only recently conducted formal program evaluations. The most recent was during the 1967-68…

This report covers the third year of Chapin Hall's process evaluation of the Prime Time Initiative of Palm Beach County, Florida, a system-building effort to strengthen the quality of after-school programs in the county. During the past two decades, the after-school field has expanded enormously, partly in response to increasing concern about…

The people at Inverness Research Associates spent 12 years studying Community Science Workshops (CSW) in California and in six other states. They gathered statistics on the scale, scope, and cost-efficiency of CSW services to youth. They observed youth at work in the shops--taking apart computers, repairing bikes, growing plants, and so on--and…

In Belle Glade, Florida, a slum populated by Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, migrant farmworkers, and Haitians, where the incidence of most major health risks was far greater than anywhere else in the state, a program was planned and partially implemented which aimed to provide health services to at-risk, disadvantaged teenage mothers and their…

The study reported here tested four hypotheses relevant to the effects of participation in Upward Bound on changes in "disadvantaged" high school youth; variables chosen for examination were reported self-concept, academic achievement, and reality of aspiration level. (Author/JM)

Father involvement enhances children's well-being. A growing body of research supports this conclusion, showing that children with involved fathers exhibit greater school readiness, increased cognitive development, higher levels of empathy, and other positive characteristics (Administration for Children and Families 2004a). Research also indicates…