Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) depends, in part, on the sustainability competencies of professionals in various fields, and thus, on the implementation of sustainability curricula in higher education. While many universities now offer sustainability curricula, and many more aspire to, there is a lack of evidence on what…

Recruiting schools to participate in research projects has become increasingly challenging in the past several years. Research in schools was next-to-impossible during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the aftermath of the pandemic has made research a lower priority for schools trying to regain COVID-related academic losses. The School Recruitment…

This article advocates for system-level change in prenatal health services. Specifically, the authors describe how they "discovered" the idea of father-inclusive prenatal health care (FIPH), which involves providing an array of services to help young expectant fathers prepare for the challenges of parenthood. Over the course of 25 years,…

Millions of students leave college every year before earning a degree. At community colleges, only a third of full-time students graduate within three years. How can school administrators help students stay in school and eventually graduate? Higher education institutions commonly offer students advising services to help them develop the academic…

Colleges support students with advising, counseling, or coaching in academics and other skills they need to succeed in school. Some colleges enhance those services through reduced adviser caseloads and more comprehensive, frequent guidance, which can improve students' semester-to-semester retention and average credits earned. This overview…

Research shows that the more courses students take and complete, especially early in their postsecondary programs, the more likely they are to graduate. In particular, students who take 15 credits per semester or 30 credits a year have a higher likelihood to complete associate and baccalaureate degrees than students enrolling in fewer hours, even…

Aligning with student engagement and promotional strategies, a Pop-Up Library project was initiated at the University of Birmingham. This involved setting up temporary, staffed stalls in different locations across campus in order to informally communicate with students and effectively take "the Library" to them. This article discusses…

Yearly, approximately 100,000 former students who had an individual education program (IEP) when they left high school are contacted to participate in a post-school survey. Efforts are made to contact youth who represent a variety of disabilities, as well as, minority youth and those who left high school with a diploma or dropped out of high…

This evaluation reviews efforts made by Illinois Action for Children (IAFC), with guidance from the Illinois Governor's Office for Early Childhood Development, to spur experimentation with new systemic change strategies to increase the number of children from priority populations--those considered to be the most vulnerable, with multiple risk…

This report is an evaluation of efforts made by Illinois Action for Children (IAFC), with oversight from the Illinois Governor's Office for Early Childhood Development (OECD), to test, support, and facilitate innovations in the early childhood system in 11 communities across the state. The Early Childhood Innovation Zones (IZ) initiative, funded…

The Early Childhood Innovation Zones initiative was established by Illinois Action for Children (IAFC), with guidance from the Illinois Governor's Office for Early Childhood Development. Funded by a Race to the Top--Early Learning Challenge grant, this initiative supported capacity building efforts for organizations working with young children in…

The federal financial aid system is no longer up to today's demands. Built in a different era, its haphazard evolution over the decades has made it inefficient, poorly targeted, and overly complicated. With the need for higher education never greater and college growing increasingly unaffordable, students deserve a streamlined aid system that is…

How long does it take to form a habit? Recent research done at the University College London by Phillippa Lally and colleagues suggest it takes an average of sixty-six days to form a new habit. Other research indicates that rewards make habits easier to form, but it takes repetition to form a habit. A literature review conducted for Pearson…

Efforts to improve educational attainment are hampered by the high school dropout crisis. At a time when governors are calling for changes to improve higher education access and success, more than 1 million youth ages 16 to 19 are not enrolled in school and do not have a high school diploma. Each year, an additional 390,000 youth drop out of…

Quality Rating Systems (QRS) are currently operating, under development, or being piloted in over 25 states or local areas. As the QRS model becomes integrated into the landscape of child care and education service delivery, policy, and the decisions parents make about child care across the United States, there is an increasing need for…