The current study explored how parents and their adolescent children describe parents' involvement in the adolescent's organized youth program. As part of a larger study of youth programs, 36 adolescent-parent dyads participated in semi-structured interviews. Youth (63.9% female) were 13-18 years old (M = 15.9, SD = 1.2) and ethnically diverse…

Energy efficiency is identified as a vital area for addressing sustainability challenges of our time. Governments throughout the world invest vast amounts of resources in research, for advancing knowledge on energy efficiency, and for fostering innovations that can support a transition towards a more sustainable energy system. Evaluation can be an…

Characteristics that contribute to successful redesign and launch of principal preparation programs may be understood collectively as the capacity of those programs. A model of capacity for redesign of principal preparation programs should strike a balance between the technical and professional aspects of teaching and leadership and the cultural…

The Center for Data Insights at MDRC has partnered with organizations to develop and execute a variety of data projects, some with long-standing partners that have participated in MDRC's long-term evaluations; others with newer partners that are just beginning to use data for program improvement. Important lessons about the essential ingredients…

Youth suicide rates have consistently risen over the past decade, and stigma related to mental health may create a barrier to young people seeking help. Schools are a common intercept point for mental health and suicide prevention programming. Hope Squad, a school-based, peer-to-peer, suicide prevention program, uses trained and mentored students…

International development volunteering is a potential route to returned volunteers' engagement in social action on development issues after placement. Using data from a two-stage qualitative study with returned Voluntary Services Overseas volunteers, and by considering the pre-conditions and motivations for social action, this article shows that…

In recent times, there has been a surge of impact-oriented, transdisciplinary research programmes and projects integrating multiple disciplines, types of knowledge and practices. An essential element often mentioned in the literature to improve the performance of these programmes and support impact delivery is continuous reflection and learning…

The on-going social and political climate, with polarizing stances on everything from issues of social justice to mandates for mask-wearing and vaccination, brings non-normative stressors into the lived experiences of students, families, and educators everywhere. These stressors are often magnified in rural communities and schools. Yet, in spite…

This paper provides evidence on a large-scale teacher incentive program in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, which awarded group bonuses to teachers and school staff conditional on improvements in student performance. By using a difference-in-differences and triple-differences framework with a series of alternative counterfactual groups, I show that…

Sleep is related to cognitive functioning, learning, and brain development in the adolescent population. Recent research indicates a rise in the presence of chronic sleep disorders such as insomnia in adolescents, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, research on the effectiveness of sleep interventions for adolescents is…

Purpose: This study aims to combine open innovation (OI) and organizational learning (OL) literature in the context of strategic alliances. Design/methodology/approach: The authors develop a conceptual framework that links OI to OL literatures. The authors empirically validate this framework through four representative cases of dyadic strategic…

School improvement plans based on a year-long cycle are problematic; this approach often leads to efforts toward improvement being frustrated and goals not being met. Jackson explains why creating a 90-day plan focused on attacking one root problem at a time leads to greater improvement, giving an example of a struggling school she helped improve…

This Educational Leadership Portfolio (ELP) addresses the information needs of the staff involved with the Delaware Academy for School Leadership (DASL) Principal Preparation Program (PPP). As a program that prepares and certifies school principals in the State of Delaware, DASL staff sought to understand the extent and ways in which they are…

This study uses two annual cohorts of students from a large, public, midwestern research institution to implement a propensity-based analysis of a student support program called Supplemental Instruction. Beginning with the history and importance of improving college completion (i.e. graduation) rates, this study identifies student support…

Perhaps one of the most formalized ways that 4-H has fostered agricultural innovation and practical education has been through their outdoor youth education program, more commonly known as 4-H Camp. Although 4-H Camps were first created for local clubs, camping events soon expanded to the state and national levels. In fact, three years after…