With Washington trapped in budget battles and partisan gridlock, cities have emerged as the best source of government innovation. Nowhere is this more visible than in New York City. Since taking office in 2002, Mayor Bloomberg has introduced a steady stream of innovative policies, from a competition to recruit a new applied sciences campus and a…

This policy profile on education in Ireland is part of the "Education Policy Outlook" series, which presents comparative analysis of education policies and reforms across the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Building on the OECD's substantial comparative and sectoral knowledge base, the series…

This policy profile on education in Finland is part of the "Education Policy Outlook" series, which presents comparative analysis of education policies and reforms across the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Building on the OECD's substantial comparative and sectoral knowledge base, the series…

Historically, afterschool programs have functioned independently with little coordination among provider organizations or agencies, and public and private funders operating in isolation. Research conducted by the National League of Cities for The Wallace Foundation profiled 27 cities that were known to be taking steps to improve coordination among…

In January 2010, the General Assembly passed the Complete College Tennessee Act (CCTA), a comprehensive reform agenda seeking to transform public higher education through changes in academic, fiscal, and administrative policies at the state and institutional levels. While the higher education landscape has been shaped by the CCTA, it is also…

Confronting two unhealthy approaches that surface frequently in philanthropy--the tendency for grantmakers to think they alone have all the answers and the tensions that arise when national and local funders try to work together--this case study is intended to help grantmakers think more deeply about the concept of "engaged partners," one of…

Very little literature exists on the nature of external reporting lines and funding structures of academic special libraries. This study focuses on academic health sciences libraries. The authors analyze information gathered from statistics published by the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) from 1977 through 2007; an…

This study offers guidance to policy makers, educational leaders, and researchers about the aspects of Educational Technology (EdTech) implementation in which investments of money, time, or investigative inquiry will yield highest impacts. Beginning from the observations that: (1) the power and ubiquity of contemporary technologies have…

By making a commitment to high-performance schools, many school districts are discovering that smart energy choices can have lasting benefits for their students, their communities, and the environment. An energy-efficient school district with 4,000 students could save as much as $160,000 a year in energy costs. Over 10 years, those savings can…

Title I funds are available to districts and schools with high numbers or percentages of disadvantaged students to provide services, including academic enrichment services through Title I, Part A, so all the nation's children have an equal opportunity to education and can reach proficiency on state academic achievement standards and assessments.…

The FE (further education) and and Skills sector will be transformed by the announcements of the Spending Review. The impact will be far more wide-reaching than a simple reduction in the amount of central funding the sector will receive from government. The decisions taken will directly affect issues as diverse as uptake, retention, curricula,…

Throughout the United States, investments in high-quality early childhood education are seen by community leaders as a strategy for improving outcomes in areas such as K-12 education, workforce development, and economic development. Indeed, many research studies conclude that high quality early learning environments produce social, educational,…

How government spends money, and who benefits, reveals our priorities. How, then, do children fare in the competition for public resources? This report looks at public investments across age groups, from birth through the elementary years. Key findings show that spending more than doubles per capita between the infant and toddler years and the…

The Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ) is a non-profit organization that funds and operates a neighborhood-based system of education and social services for the children of low-income families in a 100 block area in Harlem, New York. The HCZ has received remarkable media attention, including a best-selling book and a "60 Minutes" feature, and…

"Catalyst" is a publication of the U.S. Department of Education's Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse and Violence Prevention. This issue contains the following articles: (1) Redefining Resources For Prevention; (2) Message From Kevin Jennings, OSDFS Assistant Deputy Secretary; (3) Environmental Management…