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,…

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…

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…

The Urban Crime Prevention Program (UCPP) was designed to combat urban crime through the establishment of 85 innovative neighborhood-based crime prevention projects across nine cities for 18 months. UCPP's main goals were to increase citizen participation in innovative neighborhood crime prevention efforts, to bolster the capabilities of…

This report presents the findings from a three-year study of two San Diego demonstration projects designed to increase unsubsidized employment and reduce welfare dependency and costs. One involved a job search requirement, while the other combined that requirement with a short-term work obligation. Overall, compared to the few earlier studies on…

This is the final report of an evaluation of the Cities in Schools (CIS) program which was designed to ensure the delivery of educational and social services to inner city students; CIS uses the school as a base of operations. CIS contends that the current delivery systems are insufficient to meet the needs of youth due to lack of coordination,…

Since the early 1980s, the vast majority of states have implemented enterprise zones. This paper analyzes urban zones in six states, examining the factors that states use to choose zone locations and the subsequent effect of the zones on business activity and employment. The source of outcome data is the U.S. Bureau of Census' longitudinal…

This study examined the role of the SNDT (formerly Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey) University in reducing poverty in the Gilbert Hill-Gamdevi Dongri area of Mumbai, India. The Gilbert Hill area accommodates around 1 million people, most of whom are migrants form other parts of India. The Department of Post-Graduate Studies and Research in…

This report describes 11 effective compensatory education programs in Oregon schools funded under Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act. One high school, four middle school, and six elementary school programs are profiled. Each profile includes the following information: (1) demographics; (2) staffing; (3) parent…

This book reports on a study of the urban poor in New York City focusing on the effectiveness of a model of service for this population. The project studied 160 families who were clients of the Lower East Side Family Union, an agency that aims to prevent foster care placement and to help clients mobilize their own coping capacities and to make…