Higher education institutions are in a great position to create authentic programming to support local underfunded or underperforming public school districts. This article gives an overview of an education outreach collaborative between a 4-year public university, local schools, and a community institution and highlights lessons learned from the…

In September 2011, the Association of American Universities launched a major initiative to improve undergraduate STEM education. The overall objective was to influence the culture of STEM departments at AAU institutions so that faculty members are encouraged and supported to use teaching practices proven by research to be effective in engaging…

Making Connections was the Annie E. Casey Foundation's signature place-based, community-change initiative of the 2000s. It sought to build on previous work and launch an effort focused firmly on the framework of family strengthening. The Foundation started Making Connections in 22 places, focusing eventually on first 10, then seven sites. It…

Improving teacher quality in early education is a major part of ensuring young children's school readiness and closing the achievement gap. This is the book decision-makers and administrators need to begin developing coordinated, effective teacher quality systems--ones that not only get teachers ready for the classroom, but also promote continuous…

A variety of federally financed grants based on performance pay are providing insights into how districts and teachers can collaborate to implement sustainable programs designed to improve teaching and learning. The question of whether those Teacher Incentive Fund grants will yield measurably higher student achievement, applicant pools with…

Response to intervention (RTI) can be both a system for providing early interventions to struggling students and a special education diagnostic tool for evaluating and identifying students with specific learning disabilities. Contributing to the very limited literature on state-level approaches, this report describes how nine states define and…

The documents enclosed in this report provide a comprehensive and systematic review of the progress made in developing a network organization capable of supporting nanoscience education for the public on a national scale. There is a logic to the studies that were done and to the reports that are included in this notebook. The following are the…

Describes a two-year (1983-1985) systems study of the human services provided adolescents aged 10-17 and their families in one rural Pennsylvania community. Describes teacher/student survey, human services utilization survey, case reviews, and development of community-based advocacy plan. Discusses study's impact on local human services network…

Reviews the progress of 62 state-funded service-learning programs in Pennsylvania schools during 1992-95. Each site completed an extensive annual program profile, tracked student service and hours, and was visited by an evaluation team member who observed actual implementation. Success depends on organizational commitment, service-learning…

Service integration attempts to provide coordinated service delivery systems for the uncoordinated mix of programs such as income support programs (food stamps, Medicaid, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) and employment, child care, child welfare, and training programs that exist at the local level throughout the United States by…

A project was implemented to help program staff from the aging and child care networks to plan and implement intergenerational programs. Specific objectives were to: (1) train approximately 15 staff members from the aging network and 15 staff members from the child care network in each of five different geographic regions of Pennsylvania to plan…

A statewide evaluation indicated Pennsylvania's family literacy programs were meeting goals and providing family-centered, integrated educational services for eligible families. Findings indicated that family literacy programs recruited eligible and "most in need" families; enrolled families had young children; parents had limited formal…

Because federal expenditures for child care services provided under contract are increasing, the U.S. General Accounting Office reviewed federal and state administration of contracts for such services in California and Pennsylvania. Under title IV-A, states receive federal funds for child-care programs to help welfare families move from dependency…

In response to a mutual need for better communication between the Pennsylvania Department of Education's Bureau of Vocational and Adult Education (BVAE) and four universities in Pennsylvania operating vocational education professional personnel development centers, an accountability system was designed through a cooperative effort with center…

Family centers were used to coordinate the delivery of services in the Child and Family Reosurce Program (CFRP) in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, one of 11 demonstration sites in this Head Start-affiliated program. Cooperation between county service agencies was fostered by implementation of a task force whose members were executive directors of the…