The Policy Practice in Field Initiative was created to seed innovation and develop new models for an integrated approach to enhance the policy skill set of all social work students regardless of specialization. Funds provided to the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) are regranted to schools and programs of social work for field placement and…

This paper explores the methodological implications of applying an ethnographic sensibility to evaluation in service-learning. It describes the evolution of such a method over the past 10 years within the Citizen Scholars Program at the University of Massachusetts, and outlines what we have learned from employing this method, as well as the…

The Year 2 Preschool Expansion Grant (PEG) implementation study focuses on the second year of supports and outcomes for teachers, classroom quality, and supports for families. Overall, compared to its first year of implementation, the PEG programs in Year 2 (which was the 2016-17 school year) appear to have made progress towards delivering the key…

In 2009, the U.S. Department of Education distributed $2,500,000 via a competitive grant program, the Technical Assistance for Student Assignment Plans, to 11 school districts. The grants and their local effects provide an opportunity to examine the new politics of diversity in public education. Participants cited a wide range of conceptions of…

These "Stories From the Field" describe five Wallace-funded programs working to expand learning and enrichment for disadvantaged children, so they can benefit from the types of opportunities their wealthier counterparts have access to, from homework help to swimming classes. The report details each program's approach, successes and…

This technical brief describes updates to a database of dropout prevention programs and policies in 2006/07 created by the Regional Education Laboratory (REL) Northeast and Islands and described in the Issues & Answers report, "Piloting a searchable database of dropout prevention programs in nine low-income urban school districts in the…

Researchers in the Boston University Department of Environmental Health conducted a case study of the Boston Schoolyard Initiative, a project that provides funds and technical support to community groups dedicated to renovating schoolyards in Boston. Researchers described the process by which the Boston Schoolyard Initiative came into being and…

The "Report to the Legislature: School Leadership Academies Training Initiative" is submitted pursuant to Chapter 61 of the Acts of 2007, line item 7061-941. In FY 08, the legislature appropriated $1 million to support the second year of a program to develop and implement School Leadership Academies for principals and superintendents to…

The Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) is a bold effort to create a network of charter schools designed to transform and improve the educational opportunities available to low/income families. KIPP schools seek to actively engage students and parents in the educational process, expand the time and effort students devote to their studies, reinforce…

In April 2008, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) contracted with the Educational Policy Improvement Center (EPIC) to facilitate a series of regional workshops and provide technical assistance to strengthen efforts to improve college readiness for all students. This final report summarizes these activities…

Can teaching technologies offer a unique avenue for senior faculty vitality and renewal? This article presents the results of an evaluation that took place during six years of a teaching technology faculty development program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a research-intensive institution. We present a profile of the program and its…

In the report entitled "Educating School Leaders," Arthur Levine (2005) criticizes leadership preparation programs as "inadequate to appalling," citing, among other issues, the proliferation of off campus programming, the weakening of standards, and an unwillingness to engage in any measure of "systematic…

The Massachusetts Public Library Materials Conservation Project was a year-long program sponsored by the Massachusetts Bureau of Library Extension and conducted by the New England document Conservation Center (NEDCC) under a grant from Title I, Library Services and Construction Act. Its purposes were to provide public library administrators,…

When youngsters in a Massachusetts Upward Bound program became disciplinary problems instead of learners, it appeared that the program more than the youngsters needed correcting. (Editor)

Of the 345 Title I projects in operation in Massachusetts during 1975 58% were conducted during the school year, and 42% were conducted during the summer term. During this year, 77,706 children attending both public and nonpublic schools participated in Title I programs. Of the 319 projects responding, 98% indicated that they had an active Title I…