Over the past fifty years, school districts have consolidated in an effort to achieve economies of scale. While the determinants and effects of district mergers on operations have been studied (Gordon and Knight 2006; Duncombe and Yinger 2007; Jones et al 2008), the impact on communities has not. In small towns, schools not only educate, but also…

Across the country, effort is underway to restrict discussion, learning, and student support related to race and gender/sexual identity in educational settings, targeting schools with state legislation and politicians' orders; national conservative media and organizations; Board directives; and local actors wielding media-fueled talking points. To…

What does it take to create a statewide ecosystem to support Black student success? Our 2021 case study explores the Black Student Success Initiative at the Oregon Community Foundation. The initiative uses a community-led and trust-based approach to attract funding partners, establish a grantee network, and serve as a driver for systemic change in…

Background: The Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) framework supports the "whole child" across 10 domains. This study assessed state law and district policy WSCC coverage. Methods: Primary legal research was used to compile relevant district policies and state laws for a stratified random sample of 368 public school…

California's Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) was signed into law in 2013, and represents the most significant change in California education finance and governance in 40 years. It moves additional funds to districts with students in poverty, English language learners, and foster youth. The LCFF sends supplemental funds to districts based on…

In fall 2018, the Local Control Funding Formula Research Collaborative (LCFFRC) conducted surveys of stratified random samples of California superintendents and principals. Superintendent results were published in June 2018 in "Superintendents Speak: Implementing the Local Control Funding Formula." This report, "Principals'…

Objectives: We assessed policy and system changes and health outcomes produced by the Allies Against Asthma program, a 5-year collaborative effort by 7 community coalitions to address childhood asthma. We also explored associations between community engagement and outcomes. Methods: We interviewed a sample of 1,477 parents of children with asthma…

The Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights' bullying prevention initiative, RFK Project SEATBELT (RFKC) was contracted by the DC Office of Human Rights (OHR), in June 2013, to provide resources and support for DC public and public charter schools' bullying prevention efforts. This contract moved to Child Trends in August 2014. From…

California's voter-approved Children and Families Act of 1998 calls for money collected from tobacco taxes to support services for families with children up to 5 years of age. Sacramento County uses a portion of its allocation for small community grants with the specific intent of building social capital among neighbors and across communities. The…

Case studies of 27 plant shutdowns during the past two decades are summarized and analyzed. The organization of this research summary follows the plant-closing event in a chronological fashion. In the first section is considered the state of plant-closing research and the concerns and options of the groups involved in a shutdown. A second chapter…

This report is part of a research study on citizen participation in educational decision making. Data are drawn from: (1) interviews with school administrators, school board members, teachers' union representatives, members of the media, political figures involved in educational issues, officers and members of citizens' organizations, state…

Factors affecting the nonagricultural employment of youth are examined in the research study. Chapters in the report discuss a brief history of child labor laws in the United States; the links between the economy and the social goals of society and how child labor laws reflect and yet sometimes contradict economic realities; the economics of the…

The goals of this position paper are: (1) to describe some specific roles the federal state and local governments can play in regard to child care standards and regulations and (2) to make some straightforward and down-to-earth suggestions, which should undergird national child care standards and regulations, as these relate to day care. Some of…

The Hart Act, recently adopted by the state of California, mandates that school districts establish mechanisms of assessing minimal competencies in secondary education before students may receive a diploma. In this report, assemblyman Gary Hart, the bill's author, and Don McKinley, chief deputy to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, discuss…

This study examines and compares the perceptions of educational professionals and non-professional personnel concerning Parent Advisory Council members' degree of participatory decision making in the administration of Title I programs in New York City. The sample of educational professionals consisted of New York City district superintendents,…