For decades, most states have made a practice of giving citizens returning from prison or jail a small amount of money, called "gate money," to cover the cost of transportation and other immediate needs. Many legislatures have considered increasing the dollar amount of their cash assistance and offering this kind of support more widely.…

State school safety centers (SSSCs) aim to provide a wide range of services to enhance school security. Still, more information is needed to understand how the centers should operate and what factors determine their success. In 2021, the WestEd Justice & Prevention Research Center received funding from the U.S. National Institute of Justice to…

Purpose: To evaluate pluralistic Extension and Advisory Services (EAS) systems performance and outcomes, and share the experiences made with applying a participatory semi-quantitative approach allowing for cross-country comparability. Design/methodology/approach: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) developed the…

In June 2021, the Department for Education (DfE) announced the Early Years Education Recovery funding, a £180m package of support to help the sector recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. It comprised training programmes, qualifications, guidance and targeted whole setting support, delivered through a series of complimentary work programmes. This…

Distance education (DE) has a unique potential to ensure continuity of education in extraordinary circumstances such as pandemics and earthquakes, in addition to its advantages such as flexibility in terms of time and space and self-paced learning options. Institutional support provided for instructors engaged in DE programmes is one of the…

This research explores the suitability of system-based simulation analysis for higher education (HE) policy-planning. A dynamic system model of the Finnish university funding system covering bachelor-level students is presented. The results show that the model captures the nature of the current funding system, which can be considered a zero-sum…

The condition of food insecurity and malnutrition for school-aged children and adolescents remains one of the most influential determinants of learning outcomes. Healthy and well-nourished students learn better, have a prodigious opportunity to thrive and fulfil their potential as adults, and increase their earning potential. The purpose of this…

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) clubs are gaining momentum as a means for engaging students in STEM-related activities. Despite this growth, there have been limited attempts to examine the conditions that inform practice in these informal educational spaces. This paper addresses that gap through a comprehensive literature…

Many research funding and research performing organizations evaluate their operations or are subject to evaluations. A Working Group within Science Europe undertook to illustrate how "ex post" evaluation of research is actually used. Based on 11 case studies from seven organizations and countries, we explore the use of evaluation studies…

Community social capital is an important mechanism for collective efficacy and civic engagement to address problems of public concern. Using panel data from four periods spanning nearly 20 years, this study investigated the effects of a federal policy supporting service-learning in higher education on community social capital as measured by an…

In community colleges in the United States, graduation rates remain frustratingly low. Students face many challenges, including the financial costs of attending college; the demands of school, work, and family; complex institutional systems; underfunded student support services; and insufficient preparation for college-level work. To address these…

The past years have witnessed a growing trend in applied research in Vocational Education and Training (VET), which refers to investigative activities and services conducted by VET organisations which have a strong practical focus on solving real-life problems. Insights from applied research can be used to develop or improve products and services,…

Abt Associates evaluated the Bridges to Career Opportunities (BCO) program, developed by the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), to determine whether adults with low incomes and low skills who participate in BCO services are more likely to increase their employment and financial stability than do adults who participate in LISC's…

To promote diversity in the STEM workforce, undergraduate research training programs incorporating a variety of intervention strategies have been developed to support students from historically underrepresented backgrounds in overcoming numerous systemic barriers to pursuing careers in science. However, relatively little research has focused on…

Background: In rural areas with health professional workforce shortages, telehealth offers an opportunity to address service gaps and meet the health needs of students. Few studies have examined telehealth implementation in rural schools. This study explores facilitators and barriers to the implementation of telehealth programs in rural schools…