The purpose of this paper is to explore the development of a learning community/city approach within Wyndham City, Victoria, Australia. The journey commences with a discussion of the demographic and economic context in which Wyndham has established its Learning Community Strategies. The development of Wyndham's Learning Community is placed in the…

Given the magnitude and immediacy of climate change, how should environmental education (EE) address not only reducing our climate footprint but also climate adaptation? Whereas some approaches to adaptation education are consistent with EE foundational principles, others, while crucial for individual survival, address more immediate risks in ways…

Southeast Pennsylvania 4-H Extension educators identified a need for professional development in order to further develop current urban 4-H programs. The expectation was that increased awareness and knowledge would lead to increased skills competency in planning, implementing, and evaluating urban 4-H youth development programs. An interstate…

This report documents the results to date of reforms underway from The City University of New York (CUNY)--Strong Start to Finish (SSTF), one of the six systems that make up the first phase of the Strong Start to Finish initiative, an initiative of Education Commission of the States. CUNY colleges currently provide a range of options for…

Due to increasing urbanization, wetlands and streams within city limits are being altered, filled in, and degraded. The habitat that remains is critical for providing urban areas with ecosystem services and maintaining biodiversity, yet is often insufficiently monitored by environmental agencies due to a lack of resources. To help fill this void,…

In 2007, New York City launched the first test of a conditional cash transfer program in the United States. Called Family Rewards, the program sought to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty by offering cash assistance to poor families to reduce immediate hardship, but conditioned this assistance on families' efforts to improve their…

"The Expanded Success Initiative: Challenges and Progress in the Pursuit of College and Career Readiness for Black and Latino Young Men" synthesizes findings from the Research Alliance's four-year evaluation of Expanded Success Initiative (ESI). This report, draws on hundreds of interviews and focus groups with ESI school leaders,…

This article explores the development of the Summer Tools, Information, Motivation, and Education (SummerTIME) Writing Program, the only program of its kind in Los Angeles that conducts self-assessment. The author describes the geographical and political boundaries separating inner-city Los Angeles high school graduates from higher education,…

Completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the first and most important step for students to receive their portion of the billions of grant aid dollars disbursed in federal student financial aid; however, every year many low income and community college students fail to complete the FAFSA. Over the past twenty years,…

This report presents findings from a two-year quasi-experimental evaluation of the "AfterZone"--a citywide system-building effort in Providence, Rhode Island, that aims to provide high-quality, accessible out-of-school-time services to middle school youth. The AfterZone model is unique in that it is built on a network of…

This executive summary highlights the main findings from our participation and outcomes analysis of the "AfterZone" initiative--a citywide system-building effort in Providence, Rhode Island, that aims to provide high-quality, accessible out-of-school-time services to middle school youth. The summary briefly defines the AfterZone's unique…

Over the past two decades, inner-city communities have witnessed double-digit joblessness among an increasing number of residents who are relegated to the status of the "permanent" unemployed or the permanent underclass. These residents cannot hope to be competitive in a changing and evolving labor market. Relying on public assistance, low-wage…

This article argues that economic exclusion, standardized testing, and racially biased definitions of teacher quality continue the exclusion of teachers of color from the urban teaching force. The authors highlight two urban programs designed to address such barriers and situate such efforts within a critical race theory framework that identifies…

The authors' of the previous January 2009 report "50+1: A Federal Agenda for New York City" suggested a wide-ranging urban policy agenda for an administration that, both by political inclination and the life experiences of its leader and many top officials, promised to be more sympathetic to the needs and priorities of cities than any…

We study how the employment effects of enterprise zones vary with their location, implementation, and administration, based on evidence from California. We use new establishment-level data and geographic mapping methods, coupled with a survey of enterprise zone administrators. Overall, the evidence indicates that enterprise zones do not increase…