The recent health crisis -- and unprecedented, rapid job loss associated with it -- has illuminated how unprepared the United States is for helping workers who lose their jobs reskill to prepare for and successfully enter new employment. Policy responses to the current crisis -- while critical -- have fallen far short of addressing challenges…

This resource was prepared for a Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) State in response to a request for examples of States that support local Early Learning Councils. Local Early Learning Councils are public-private partnerships that work to align and strengthen a comprehensive early childhood system and to coordinate funding coming…

Extensive bodies of literature examining child language acquisition and early literacy development indicate that the language and literacy opportunities young children have at home and in school settings, including the nature of their language interactions with adults and their exposure to books and stories, are consequential for mastery of…

Due to the closing of the GM Manufacturing Plants, Grand Rapids, Michigan area experienced an extreme loss of jobs, which led to low-socioeconomic hardships such as "food insecurity" that was witnessed in the needs of the many students who attend the Grand Rapid Public Schools. This case provides insight into how educational leader…

Special education, a discipline that aims to provide specialized instruction to meet the unique needs of each child with a disability, has turned 40 years old in the United States. Ever since the passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (P.L. 94-142) in 1975, every state has been directed to provide a free and appropriate…

Low-income individuals and families experience a great deal of financial hardship that impacts virtually every dimension of their lives. This chronic financial instability not only imposes high degrees of day-to-day stress but may also limit the ability to save and invest, constraining prospects for a more secure future. Across the country,…

Despite the growing popularity of apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships, and in-school youth apprenticeships in the United States, young adults who lack the credentials and connections to seamlessly enter postsecondary pathways remain overlooked. Young-adult-serving agencies and community-based organizations (CBOs) are underutilized key actors in…

Effective partnerships for education reform "require that schools view parents and communities not simply as customers or clients but as partners in the educational process" (Sanders, 2009, p. 1695). In 2012, seven Seattle area school districts and the Puget Sound Educational Service District (the PSESD) were awarded funding for the Road…

In this article, Michael McAfee and Mauricio Torre reflect on the successes and challenges of the Promise Neighborhoods movement as it works toward education equity, and on what it takes to effect large-scale, sustainable change for low-income communities and communities of color. Together they discuss the Chula Vista Promise Neighborhood project…

Over the past two decades, community organizing has emerged as an effective force for school improvement. In the context of shrinking education funding, stubborn opportunity and achievement gaps between low-income and wealthy children and between children of color and White children, and polarizing debate on school reform, community organizing…

The data included in this report reflects a review of 151 Federally administered programs at six Federal agencies (HHS, HUD, ED, DOL, DOJ, and USDA), and 17 program areas at USAID. It includes only those programs that utilize competitively awarded grants for which faith-based and community organizations (FBCOs) were eligible to apply and…

The Emergency School Aid Act (ESAA) of 1972 authorizes grants or contracts to nonprofit organizations (NPOs) and local education agencies (LEAs) to support the LEAs' efforts to desegregate or to reduce minority group isolation or its effects. The NPO program is a small component of ESAA which provides financial assistance to community…

Historically, faith-based organizations (FBOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) have been involved in the provision of social services, such as drug treatment, job training, community redevelopment, housing, and education. However, FBOs and CBOs have not often participated in U.S. Department of Education (the Department) grant programs. In…

This study guide is for the use of community workers who instruct members of their community in a basic social security course. The course is divided into five sessions of approximately 2 hours each. The guide, to be used by the instructor in a lecture/discussion setting, contains four Course Units: 1. Introduction, 2. How Quarters of Coverage Are…

The proceedings of a nation-wide conference in Nigeria concerning adult education are presented. The following steps are proposed in the line of national and international cooperation; these steps can be taken without waiting for financial and administrative approval: (1) the registration of all kinds of adult education programs and activities…