These "Stories From the Field" describe five Wallace-funded programs working to expand learning and enrichment for disadvantaged children, so they can benefit from the types of opportunities their wealthier counterparts have access to, from homework help to swimming classes. The report details each program's approach, successes and…

The Fresno-Long Beach Learning Partnership is a collaboration that aims to improve student outcomes, accelerate achievement for all students, and close achievement gaps by capitalizing on shared systemic capacity-building across two high-need districts. The Partnership is a joint effort of the third- and fourth-largest districts in California to…

TheatreWorks is the third largest theatre in the San Francisco bay area. Through the usual educational programs that $6 million companies tend to offer, it has reached over 100,000 students of all ages in the past 8 years. The TheatreWorks Bridges Projects, however, are special. They are intricate and expansive, work with multiple community…

California's vast Central Valley has been called "the Appalachia of California" and "the Other California." Long neglected as either irrelevant or hopeless, the Central Valley has become the focus of government and private philanthropists who understand the growing importance of this region to the state and the nation. The…

In order to provide high quality training to paraprofessionals employed in state-funded Child Day Care Centers, an innovative instructional program was developed based on the need to offer training in convenient commuting locations and to recruit and train unlicensed paraprofessionals from cultural and linguistic backgrounds similar to those of…

This past year, Jobs for the Future studied strategies that community colleges are using to improve the quality and effectiveness of their services to low-income youth and adults. Much of this research was conducted for the MetLife Foundation Community College Excellence Awards Initiative. Across the country, in urban, rural, and suburban…