The goal of this study was to investigate the degree to which school-based and nonformal education programs that focus on air quality (AQ) achieved measurable AQ improvements, and whether specific instructional methods were associated with those improvements. We completed a standardized telephone interview with representatives of 54 AQ education…

In 2005, the Clarence Edwards middle school in Boston was failing. It was one of the lowest-performing schools in the city and on the verge of closure. Today, the school is thriving as one of Boston's highest-performing middle schools. The catalyst for this dramatic turnaround was the implementation of a new, partner-dependent expanded learning…

The purpose of this paper is to present a preliminary, qualitative review of a therapeutic programme for preschool children and their parents in severely under-resourced contexts to aid the development of the underlying skills required to be ready for formal school. A team of two pairs, each comprising an occupational therapist and a community…

Chicago has long been one of the national epicenters for public school reform. In many ways the reform efforts of the past decade in the Windy City have served as the blueprint for the current focus of federal education priorities. In particular, federal policy for school turnaround and transformation takes clear cues from the efforts that current…

Institutions of higher education are increasingly engaging in partnerships with local communities. Within a sport context, the creation of the NCAA CHAMPS/Life Skills Program has emphasized partnerships between athletic departments and local community service organizations (CSOs). Prior studies, however, have used student-athletes rather than the…

It is often noted that children spend most of their waking hours out of school. What they do during non-school hours is important, because access to high-quality learning, both in and out-of-school, is key to cognitive, social-emotional, and physical development. In the United States today, demand for after-school programs outstrips supply: 8.4…

This manuscript summarizes an iterative process used to develop a new intervention for low-income urban youth at risk for negative academic outcomes (e.g., disengagement, failure, drop-out). A series of seven steps, building incrementally one upon the other, are described: 1) identify targets of the intervention; 2) develop logic model; 3)…

The college-going rates of rural students lag behind those of more urban students, a gap likely due, in part, to rural students' lower educational aspirations. These lower aspirations appear to be tied to the dilemma that higher education presents for many rural students: whether to remain in their rural home, working in traditional trades and…

This article describes a reflective, systematic, performance-based project resulting in the development of a digital story about a community health education field experience. The project is designed for preservice health education students at the college/university level. The primary benefit of the project is that it challenges students to engage…

U.S. Latinos experience constrained access to formal health care resources, contributing to higher incidence of preventable diseases and chronic health conditions than the general population. The authors explore whether a rich set of informal health communication connections--to friends, family, radio, television, Internet, newspapers, magazines,…

Peer-based youth services provided by small non-profit community organisations have grown in number over the past two decades in response to an increasing need for informal, youth-friendly, accessible and confidential early intervention services. However, gaps in the evidence base and a general lack of evaluation capacity of service providers…

"What are the most fundamental strategies that organizations can take to sustain quality partnerships among youth and adults?" This is the question asked of five people personally engaged in community organizations that implement youth-adult partnerships. In this unique article, each of these professionals writes about strategies they have…

Objective: To explore food shopping behaviors among low-income families over the course of the month. Design: Two researchers conducted 13 90-minute focus groups. Setting: Two community organizations serving low-income populations and a university campus. Participants: Low-income adults (n = 72) who were the primary household food shoppers and who…

Community coalitions can help national organizations meet their objectives. Farm Safety 4 Just Kids depends on coalitions of local people to deliver farm safety and health educational programs to children and their families. These coalitions are called chapters. An evaluation was developed to identify individual coalition's strengths and…

The author introduces a new program that brings city kids who really need college to a private rural campus that really needs kids. Under the program, called Pipelines Into Partnership, a handful of urban high schools and community organizations--the groups that know their kids beyond the black and white of their transcripts--determine which…