The Walmart Foundation’s 2011 Investment in Summer Youth Employment: Encouraging Results and Lessons Learned
In Spring 2011, the Walmart Foundation funded summer employment opportunities for youth in five cities – Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, DC. A team from the Center for Youth and Communities at Brandeis University’s Heller School visited all five sites, interviewing administrators, partners, and employers and observing program operations. This report summarizes… Read More ›
Innovating Under Pressure: The Story of the 2009 Recovery Act Summer Youth Employment Initiative
This study documents the implementation of the ARRA summer youth employment initiative in four featured communities: Chicago, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan; Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana; and Phoenix and Maricopa County, Arizona. This report describes the local context for implementation, provides insight into specific assets and innovations that were used to achieve the community goals, identifies… Read More ›
Unfinished Work: Building Excellence in Washington DC’s Summer Youth Employment Program
This study by Brandeis University identifies best practices and examines the potential of Washington DC’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) as currently organized to provide the city’s young people with an introduction to work, with opportunities to earn money over the summer, and with positive learning experiences that support their future employability. Source Organization: Center… Read More ›
Creative Transitions Initiative
This report, on the Creative Transitions Initiative, demonstrated that arts programs, although very brief, can be valued by young people and DYS youth workers, and have the potential to produce an array of positive experiences and outcomes for young people in DYS facilities. In 2005, a statewide “ArtsInFusion” coalition was formed in Massachusetts to integrate the… Read More ›
New Teacher Survival Guide: Differentiating Instruction
This 13 minute video features a new chemistry teacher working with an expert in differentiated instruction to modify a lesson to meet the needs of the diverse learners in her classroom. She tries several strategies, including tiered word problems and group work, and discusses her successes and challenges. To facilitate sharing and self reflection,The Teaching… Read More ›
Global Best Practices
This tool is a practical, action-oriented self-assessment for secondary schools. It was developed for the New England Secondary School Consortium. The tool grew out of a recognition that national borders no longer define the knowledge, skills, and habits of mind that students need for success, and that New England’s high schools may need assistance reviewing… Read More ›
The Power of Combining Youth Development Principles, Culture and Arts: Findings of a Study of the Culture & Arts Youth Development Initiative
This study from the Skillman Foundation features the results of an evaluation of its Culture and Arts Youth Development Initiative, which integrates youth development with arts and culture by providing youth in underdeveloped neighborhoods opportunities to participate in long-term exposure to the arts. The findings are based on the evaluation of the first four years… Read More ›
Documenting Stories of Immigration in Your Community
This resource provides information on how to empower students to become more engaged with the issue of immigration and provides a manual for teachers and students for getting started. Source Organization: What Kids Can Do Visit the Resource
Taking Democracy In Hand: Youth Action For Educational Change in the San Francisco Bay Area
More than field notes but less than a case study, this informal paper draws upon site interviews and conversations with ten Bay Area youth organizing groups, highlighting some of their burgeoning accomplishments and growing wisdom. It also outlines how their work builds, step by step, capital and capacity among participants; why youth-adult partnerships are important;… Read More ›
My Voice National Student Report, 2014 Grades 6-12
The mission of My Voice, a Pearson Foundation initiative, is to help measure the perceptions of everyone at school, elevate the impact of student voice and foster the changes that are vital for students to realize academic, social and personal success. The My Voice Survey was created to assess a framework developed by the Quaglia… Read More ›
Teacher Design for Education
Using hands-on activities and project-based challenges, Teacher Design for Education (TD4Ed) harnesses the creativity and problem-solving skills educators use everyday to solve some of the toughest problems within education. Through this curriculum, educators will tap into skills they already have and build new competencies to identify challenges, generate new ideas, and implement solutions. Source Organization:… Read More ›
If I Could Lead A School: A Student-Driven Participatory Design Studio to Re-imagine Education
This Student Experience Lab explores how good design can improve the quality of learning experiences for students by not only listening to the voices of the students but also engaging them in the conceptual development of new systems. 40 young people in Rhode Island tackle the challenge to design a new student experience for a 21st… Read More ›