SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:
AYPF is hiring for two new positions!
The American Youth Policy Forum is looking for an Operations Intern to support our event and communications staff. AYPF’s Capitol Hill forums, webinars and discussion groups bring together educators, policymakers, and researchers in an effort to bridge education and youth policy, practice, and research. Our ideal candidate is motivated, detail-oriented, can juggle multiple tasks at once, and will have prior event and conference planning experience. The position involves interacting and coordinating with Capitol Hill and policy staff on a regular basis, and is a great opportunity for a candidate interested in operations or event planning in a dynamic, high-profile organization.This position offers a monthly paid stipend of $350.
AYPF is also looking for an experienced brief writer to support our communications efforts on a contract basis. AYPF’s Capitol Hill forums and discussion groups bring together educators, policymakers, and researchers in an effort to bridge education and youth policy, practice, and research. The brief writer will be responsible for writing clear, concise, accurate briefs of the events to post on AYPF’s website.
To learn more and apply, please visit:
https://www.aypf.org/about/employment-opportunities/
UPCOMING AYPF EVENTS
- Webinar – Research, Policy, and Practice: The Role of Intermediaries in Promoting Policies (Thursday, February 27th)
- Capitol Hill Forum – Using Student Surveys: Implications for District and State Policy (Thursday, March 14, 2014)
AYPF EVENT DETAILS
On February 27th, AYPF will host a webinar highlighting the role of intermediaries in promoting research to policymakers in education. Presenters include Dr. Chris Lubienski, Professor at University of Illinois and Principal Investigator of “How Do Intermediary Organizations Promote Research Evidence for Educational Policymaking?”; Dr. Kevin Welner, Professor at University of Colorado and Director of the National Education Policy Center; and Kim Nauer, Education Project Director, The New School for Public Engagement, Center for NewYork City Affairs.
AYPF will host a series of forums examining the use of student surveys to inform continuous improvement of teaching and learning. The third forum in the series will focus on the use of student surveys at the district and state levels. Elaine Allensworth from the Consortium on Chicago School Research will discuss the Illinois Five Essentials; Kendra Wilhelm, Denver Public Schools, will talk about the LEAP (Leading Effective Academic Practice) work in Denver that is DPS’s system of evaluating the performance and supporting the growth of teachers, and Amy Farley will discuss the Colorado Legacy Foundation’s work on using student surveys with pilot districts.
AYPF PUBLICATIONS AND RESOURCES
Ready for Success Blog The Ready for Success Blog, operated by College and Career Readiness and Success Center at the American Institutes of Research, provides practitioners and policymakers with many posts related to college and career readiness. Topics span the field of strategies which help prepare students for postsecondary education and beyond, including accelerated learning; dropout prevention and recovery; increased learning time; and federal, state, and local policy initiatives to name a few.
Forum Brief: AYPF has been hosting a series of forums examining the use of student surveys to inform continuous improvement of teaching and learning. The first forum on December 6, 2013 is entitled “Using Student Surveys: Research Findings and Implications for Teaching and Learning.” This forum focused on what we have learned through recent research on the use of classroom- level student surveys. Dr. Ronald F. Ferguson of Harvard University showed how surveys capture key dimensions of classroom life and teaching practices as students experience them. The validity and reliability of student feedback will be presented as well as the relationship between survey results and student learning outcomes. Paul Ronevich, science teacher at the Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy, will discuss his experiences using the data from student surveys, and William Hileman, Vice President of the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers will discuss the challenges and policy implications of integrating student surveys into teacher evaluations. Subsequent forums will examine implications for leadership and school improvement initiatives, and district and state policy.
Click here to find all briefs and reports
Click here to view all AYPF publications
RECOMMENDED READING AND RESOURCES
Check these out – recommended reading from the AYPF staff
Considerations for Collaborations to Support College and Career Readiness: A Facilitator’s Guide College & Career Readiness & Success Center at AIR (CCRS Center)
This brief includes guiding questions and key considerations designed to help states explore the complex challenges inherent in facilitating cross-systems alignment through ongoing collaboration. Each question borrows from the systems research base derived from within and outside the field of education. The piece also includes an appendix that provides a deeper exploration of the research base and highlights state examples of how the key considerations can lead to successful collaborative work.
Predictors of Postsecondary Success College & Career Readiness & Success Center at AIR (CCRS Center)
The College and Career Readiness and Success Center at AIR has identified student skills and behaviors that predict future academic and workplace success. This research brief for policymakers and practitioners points to such factors as achieving literacy by third grade, maintaining a 3.0+ GPA and attending school regularly.
Progress and Proficiency: Redesigning Grading for Competency Education CompetencyWorks
A new report by CompetencyWorks, titled Progress and Proficiency: Redesigning Grading for Competency Education, helps education leaders think through how to design grading policies that communicate academic performance to students and parents. As more schools and districts begin to develop competency-based pathways that allow students to progress based on demonstrated mastery of content knowledge and skills rather than just time spent in a classroom, it is imperative that they rethink their grading systems around competency.
Early College, Continued Success: Early College High School Initiative Impact Study American Institutes for Research
Early College, Continued Success: Early College High School Initiative Impact, a multi-year study of schools in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Early College High School Initiative, was first issued in June 2013. The update is based on an additional year of postsecondary data. The students were in 9th grade during the 2005-06, 2006-2007 or 2007-2008 academic years, and followed for up to eight years in some cases.
Deeper Learning For Every Student Every Day Getting Smart
This report includes 20 Deeper Learning school profiles. The paper is dedicated to dispelling the myths around Deeper Learning and showing it can happen anywhere with any students and all teachers. The report also includes an infographic.
Financing Expanded Learning Time in Schools National Center on Time and Learning
To better meet the needs of students and teachers, more than 1,500 schools across the U.S. offer expanded time in school. As more educators and policymakers explore this opportunity, one of the first questions they ask is “How do schools pay for that additional time?” NCTL and The Wallace Foundation are pleased to release a new report, Financing Expanded Learning Time in Schools: A Look at Expanded Time in Five District Schools, which presents an in-depth look at how five district expanded-time schools leverage federal, state and local funding to fund the additional time.
Afterschool and the Common Core State Standards Afterschool Alliance
The Afterschool Alliance, in partnership with MetLife Foundation, has collected four issue briefs examining critical issues facing middle school youth and the vital role afterschool programs play in addressing these issues. They explore after school and the Common Core State Standards, students with disabilities and other special needs, data utilization to improve programming, and keeping children safe and supported. The briefs examine just a few of the ways afterschool programs support middle school youth, families and communities.
Closing the Opportunity Gap through Student-Centered Learning Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education
While nationally, students of color and low-income students continue to achieve at far lower levels than their more advantaged peers, some schools are breaking that trend. A new set of case studies, released today, looks at four of these schools in Northern California in which traditionally underserved students are achieving above state and district averages.
Innovative Pathways to Teaching Reform: Using Connected Learning to Develop Tomorrow’s Leaders National Summer Learning Association
This report is filled with tools and resources that can reinforce a variety of educational policy priorities, which include closing the achievement gap, helping students to meet Common Core standards, promoting teacher effectiveness, and preparing students for college and career readiness. Leveraging summer offers a great opportunity that can prepare both students and teachers for a more successful school year.
Get With the Program…and Finish It: Building Guided Pathways to Accelerate Student Completion Community College Resource Center
In this paper, CCRC describe efforts by a growing number of colleges and universities to redesign academic programs and support services to create “guided pathways” designed to increase the rate at which students enter and complete a program of study.
America’s Promise Alliance Last month America’s Promise launched GradNation.org, an online community for those seeking to learn about, connect into and activate on behalf of the GradNation movement. Take a look!
The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF), a nonprofit, nonpartisan professional development organization based in Washington, DC, provides learning opportunities for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers working on youth and education issues at the national, state, and local levels.
AYPF events and publications are made possible by a consortium of philanthropic foundations: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, William T. Grant Foundation, The Wallace Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and others.
Upcoming Events
Special Announcement
Upcoming Event Details
AYPF Publications and Resources
Recommended Readings and Resources
