Given their proximity to local problems; deep engagement with educators, students, and other community stakeholders; and emphasis on recognizing systemic factors that produce school-level outcomes, improvement networks and the tools of improvement science offer unique equity affordances. Despite considerable and rapidly shifting environmental…

Addressing the needs of all student groups is paramount for ensuring equitable access to learning opportunities and fostering high academic success for all students. Students in the United States come from a diverse range of backgrounds, bringing with them knowledge, experiences, and other assets that inform the way they learn, but may also come…

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.…

By age 18, students have spent on average 85 percent of their waking hours outside of school. Their use of that time--constructive or not--helps direct their futures. In afterschool and summer programs, young people explore new interests, develop new skill sets, and create lasting relationships with peers and caring adults that shape who they are,…

Using crowdfunding as a source of research funding is becoming a more and more important part of the landscape of higher education institutions. The relevant literature indicates that the success of the entire initiative mainly depends on the initiator. Despite this, it is not clear what challenges are related to crowdfunding in research and what…

Objective/Research Question: Many localities have implemented promise programs, which cover tuition for students to attend college based on residency criteria. These "free college" programs have been shown to increase student enrollment, creating the need for additional institutional resources to support student graduation. We analyzed…

Maternal mortality, largely stemming from complications during pregnancy and childbirth, impacts poor expecting women with limited healthcare access in rural Pakistan. Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs), commonly implemented in developing nations, are designed to improve the well-being of vulnerable populations by focusing on health and education.…

What can the federal government do to help ensure that the public schools attended by children living in poverty have enough resources to serve their students? In this brief, we describe existing federal efforts to support education spending in high-poverty districts, discuss their limitations, and suggest alternative approaches for federal…

In Ghana, private higher education institutions' (PHEIs) share of gross tertiary enrolment is on the decline in the midst of growing demand for tertiary education. Whether this is, an indication of PHEIs in Ghana becoming endangered species in the higher education space has received limited research attention. Through documentary reviews and…

Paraeducators are considered to be a promising pool of future teachers who can help schools address the issues of teacher shortages, attrition and diversification. Paraeducators, known to be highly motivated and familiar with classroom environments, typically have work experience in fields where teacher shortages exist such as bilingual and…

Autistic adults experience disparities in physical health and health care access. A major barrier to addressing these disparities is a lack of federal funding for research on this topic. In seeking funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), we discovered nodes that contribute to structural discrimination in physical health--related…

Drawing upon a long-term study of venture philanthropy and public schools in Australia, this paper focuses on Teach For Australia (TFA) as a major component of a venture philanthropic network, one that builds critical infrastructures and connections between non-government organisations and the state, creating a product pipeline into public…

There has been a recent increase in attention toward the proper targets of evaluation in science funding policy. Specifically, some claim that we should 'fund people, not projects' to allow for increased autonomy for researchers. Critics argue that this movement unduly opens room for biases against several marginalized groups of scientists. In…

This phenomenological study was conducted to ascertain Generation Z's attitudes and perspectives regarding agrofood philanthropy. To effectively engage the upcoming generation as philanthropists, it is necessary to determine how they define philanthropy, what motivates them to give, how they have already participated in philanthropic efforts, and…

This article traces the development of four narratives of financial assistance for Australian university students - to encourage excellence; to meet public need; to build the stock of human capital; and as universal provision - and their effect on the development of a fifth narrative, centred on the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS).…