Upcoming AYPF Events
Mark your calendars – events you don’t want to miss
Forum – Transition to Adulthood: Roundtable Discussions on Practice and Policy – June 21, 2011
Please join us for a day-long event disseminating the research and findings of the Transition to Adulthood Network, captured in The Future of Children’s volume, Transition to Adulthood. This event will provide attendees an opportunity to hear from leading researchers and practitioners in the field around the unique challenges that young people face as they transition into adulthood. Each roundtable session will include a brief overview of the research findings, presentations from leading practitioners, and a panel discussion on the implications for federal policy. In addition, every session will allow for ample time for the participants to dialogue with the presenters.
Forum – Identifying and Supporting Elements of Successful Community Partnerships to Expand the School Day – June 27, 2011
As policymakers and practitioners consider ways to expand and extend the school day and provide high-quality programming to all students, a central component of the work is creating and maintaining strong partnerships between schools and community organizations. This forum will highlight elements that build successful partnerships, identified through both practice and research, which can help inform policy discussions related to afterschool and expanded learning opportunities. Presenters will include Jessica Donner, Director, Collaborative for Building After School Systems (CBASS) (NY); Priscilla Little, Consultant and formerly of Harvard Family Research Project (MA); and Jennifer Peck, Executive Director, Partnership for Children and Youth (NY).
AYPF Publications and Resources
Please visit our YouTube channel at: http://www.youtube.com/amyouthpolicyforum for video clips of events, interviews and more!
NEW WEBINAR RECORDING – Understanding Extended Year Graduation Rates: Lessons Learned by States
This webinar focused on how states can effectively calculate and use extended-year graduation rates (5- and 6-year rates) to improve outcomes for all students. In particular, off-track students and out-of-school youth benefit as extended-year graduation rates incent states to create options to serve these students. Click here to be sent directly to the webinar recording – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFpT8dxExlk
NEW FORUM BRIEF – Building Competency-Based Pathways: Successes and Challenges from Leaders in the Field
This forum provided an overview of competency-based pathways to education and described programs that have successfully utilized these pathways to move all students to success in high school and beyond. Speakers highlighted how innovative learning environments that base student advancement upon mastery of measurable learning objectives have been effective for different types of students, including over-age, under-credited students and other youth off-track for high school graduation. Panelists addressed key considerations for building the capacity to provide competency-based pathways to high school graduation and made recommendations for how state and federal policies can enable the necessary conditions for implementing these pathways.
Recommended Readings and Resources
Check these out – recommended reading from the AYPF staff
ESEA Briefing Book Thomas B. Fordham Institute
Political leaders hope to act this year to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, also known as No Child Left Behind). In this important new paper, Thomas B. Fordham Institute President Chester E. Finn, Jr. and Executive Vice President Michael J. Petrilli identify 10 big issues that must be resolved in order to get a bill across the finish line and explore the major options under consideration for each one. For example, should states be required to adopt academic standards tied to college and career readiness? Should the new law provide greater flexibility to states and districts? These are just a few of the areas discussed. Finn and Petrilli also present their own bold yet “reform realist” solutions for ESEA.
Education as a Data-Driven Enterprise: A Primer for Leaders in Business, Philanthropy, and Education Alliance for Excellent Education, Civic Enterprises and the Data Quality Campaign
This publication demonstrates how education is on the road to becoming a data-driven enterprise. The report explains how equipping the appropriate stakeholders with better information can accelerate the country’s efforts to boost student achievement and implement the reforms, policies, and practices that strengthen education for all young people.
Plugged In: Positive Development Strategies for Disconnected Latino Youth National Council of La Raza
This report profiles a pilot program of the NCLR Escalera Program: Taking Steps to Success, which addresses the obstacles faced by young Hispanics who are disconnected from school and work. This pilot is operated by three NCLR Affiliates, AltaMed Health Services Corporation in Los Angeles, American YouthWorks in Austin, and HELP – New Mexico, Inc. in rural New Mexico. The report finds that across the three sites, the following core competencies are central to the success of disconnected youth: reconnection, foundational skills, leadership and personal development, educational attainment, workforce readiness skills, and career exploration. Based on these findings, NCLR offers lessons and recommendations for policymakers, funders, and program administrators serving this population.
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, Charles S. Mott Foundation, and others.
