The Institute of Museum and Library Services' (IMLS) Office of Research and Evaluation (ORE) is leading the development of the Agency's first Learning Agenda, which is organized around actionable learnings to three research and evaluation priorities: child reading literacy, future of museums and equity grantmaking. The Learning Agenda's primary…

Mental health challenges for youth continue to be a growing concern. Youth-serving organizations have the potential to play a significant role in recognizing the signs and symptoms of mental health challenges in youth. The Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) training course is widely used to equip adults working with youth with skills to support…

Work engagement is defined as a positive work-related state of mind that is characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption. The engagement of staff has been associated with their performance and efficiency, productivity, safety, attendance and retention, customer service and satisfaction, and several other organizational success factors. The…

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Child Care, requires states to use information about the provider cost of child care to inform the setting of payment rates under the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) program. This requirement is consistent with the growing recognition that…

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) requires states to have statewide accountability systems to help provide all children significant opportunity to receive a fair, equitable, and high-quality education, and to close educational achievement gaps. These systems must meet certain federal requirements, but states have some discretion in…

This report is the second in a series that highlights findings from an evaluation of State School Safety Centers (SSSCs) being carried out by WestEd's Justice and Prevention Research Center and funded by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). The first report in the series utilized survey data from school safety key informants (e.g., SSSC staff,…

Following the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic, the US Census Bureau (USCB) conducted regularly scheduled surveys to assess the impact that the virus had on American families. These showed that the number of adults/parents with children who were taught entirely in their homes doubled between the spring and fall 2020. Though millions of these…

Calls to improve relationships between research and practice abound, among them efforts to help researchers to work in partnership with and communicate more effectively with policy and practice audiences, informing those that govern and design educational policies and those charged with implementation in schools and classrooms, respectively. These…

Start-up ecosystems are emerging rapidly worldwide. The speed of technology innovation and the diversity of business ideas keep the start-up landscape in constant flux. While many emerging start-ups are in the areas of electronics and information sciences, the field of mechanical engineering has huge potential that has yet to be exploited. Today's…

This case study helps students better understand barriers to youth sport participation that low-income families face and then offer solutions to alleviate some barriers and create a more inclusive sport community. The case focuses on the struggle that many sport organizations face when trying to increase diversity and inclusiveness, regardless of…

The Region 15 Comprehensive Center (R15 CC) and the Regional Educational Laboratory West (REL West), both housed at WestEd, collaborated with the California Department of Education (CDE) and the California State Board of Education (SBE) to conduct an initial landscape analysis to understand the current state of school-based mental health referral…

Charter school authorizing is inherently contextual work, and each charter school authorizer is the expert on their own context and portfolio of schools. This toolkit is a self-guided resource for authorizers to "identify" indicators of distress, "audit" their current data collection methods for evaluating indicators of…

This report is a follow-up to a 2012-2013 study (see ED611342), which found that 77 of 100 large U.S. cities were coordinating the work of out-of-school-time providers, government agencies, private funders, and others to provide high-quality afterschool programs to the children who stand to benefit most. The report provides a look at the state of…

Through engaging in interviews with 10 local educational agency liaisons, this study provides insight into their roles, challenges, and training in serving children and youth experiencing homelessness. Using thematic analysis to analyze transcripts, common themes were uncovered. The findings highlight the liaisons' challenges related to…

The affordability of licensed early childhood education and care (ECCE) remains a perennial policy issue in Oklahoma as well as in other states. Stakeholders in the public and private sectors aim for an adequate supply of quality ECCE providers that is accessible to the families who need care. At the same time, these stakeholders recognize that…