In June 2008, Governor Deval Patrick released his Education Action Agenda, a comprehensive strategic plan that charts the course for the next phase of education reform in Massachusetts. The Action Agenda set as a primary goal the creation of an integrated system of education to meet the learning needs of every student in the Commonwealth, thus providing all students with the supports and skills necessary to meet the stateâ??s rigorous educational standards, and to help them become successful and productive members of the workforce and their communities. Governor Patrick established the Child and Youth Readiness Cabinet (the Cabinet), comprised of the Secretariats of the state agencies, with primary responsibility for serving children, youth and families. In April 2009, Public Consulting Group (PCG) was retained to clarify the crossagency vision for a statewide integrated data sharing and reporting system as outlined by the Governor and the Readiness Cabinet, and to draft a strategic plan with actionâ?Ìoriented recommendations to help the Cabinet begin to make concerted, measurable efforts toward achieving its vision.

This report investigates a number of education and training programs involving employers in efforts to help disadvantaged young adults attain postsecondary credentials leading to career track employment. Our model programs meet four basic criteria: 
  1) Getting low-income youth and young adults postsecondary credentials that will allow them to enter and advance in career track employment. 
  2) Working with employers in industry sectors important to the region's economy. 
  3) Maximizing employer roles and commitment.
  4) Demonstrating portability, scalability, and replicability.

This report takes the first ever look at the relationship between school-based arts education and high school graduation rates in New York City public schools. The findings, based on data collected by the New York City Department of Education (DOE), strongly suggest that the arts play a key role in keeping students in high school and graduating on time.

This report, a follow-up to CEP's 2008 report on school restructuring in Ohio, examines the implementation and effects of differentiated accountability and related policies in Ohio. We looked at a range of questions. How is the differentiated accountability pilot affecting districts with large numbers of schools in restructuring? How successfully is the new system differentiating support and interventions for schools and districts in which only a few subgroups of students missed AYP targets from those in which students across the board missed the targets? What local approaches are districts taking to improve restructuring schools? To collect data for this report, we conducted interviews in the fall and winter of 2008-09 with two officials in the Ohio Department of Education (ODE). We also interviewed more than 20 local administrators, teachers, and other district and school staff in four school districts--Cincinnati Public Schools, Cleveland Metropolitan School District, Mansfield City Schools, and Mount Vernon City Schools--and in eight schools within these districts. In addition, we reviewed restructuring-related documents and analyzed test data at the state and local levels.

YO! Academy in Baltimore, MD released a report on its successes from 2006 through mid-year 2009. The findings include increased attendance rates and in increased participation rate in a variety of holistic services that include job readiness training and skills training as well as community service.

This resource from Harvard Family Research Project includes a comprehensive list of data collection measures for use in the evaluation of and research on family involvement programs.
Authors: Helen Westmoreland, Suzanne Bouffard, Kelley O'Carroll, Heidi Rosenberg

America's Promise Alliance commissioned Grad Nation, a new tool comprising the best evidence-based practices for keeping young people in school paired with suggestions for effectively preparing them for life after high school. It is a guidebook that provides a road map to help communities tackle the dropout crisis. It is designed to help communities develop tailored plans for keeping students on track to graduate from high school, prepared for college, work and life. Grad Nation includes ready-to-print tools and links to additional online resources, in addition to research-based guidance. It provides information and tools for developing and implementing a customized program that's right for individual communities.