AYPF IS HIRING

Summer 2018 Research/Policy Intern
AYPF interns are an integral part of the team and engage in a variety of activities, including researching and analyzing data, writing fact sheets and summaries, and planning and helping to organize briefings on Capitol Hill. The application process is rolling. For more details, please visit our employment page athttps://www.aypf.org/about/employment-opportunities/.

UPCOMING AYPF EVENTS

Capitol Hill Forum: Learning for Careers: The Pathways to Prosperity Network (Friday, December 1, 2017 from 12:00-1:30pm ET) 
In 2012, Jobs for the Future (JFF) and the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE), in collaboration with states and regions across the country, launched the Pathways to Prosperity Network to reimagine how the education system – from K-12 through college – partners with employers and prepares youth for postsecondary success. This forum will explore main themes from a new book, Learning for Careers: The Pathways to Prosperity Network, highlight how key actors in Delaware, a Pathways to Prosperity state, worked together to develop and implement a coherent strategic career pathways plan, and discuss how Delaware state leadership and prominent organizations also played a critical role. Speakers will share insights about how two education institutions and the employer community came together to create meaningful career pathways that cut across secondary and postsecondary education and are linked to growth areas in the state’s economy. Speakers include: Dr. Susan Bunting, Delaware Secretary of Education; Dr. Mark Brainard, President, Delaware Technical Community College; Nancy Hoffman, Senior Advisor, Jobs for the Future; Gary Stockbridge, President, Delmarva Power Region for Exelon Corporation; and Robert Schwartz, Senior Research Fellow, Harvard Graduate School of Education; with comments from Senator Christopher Coons, Delaware.

Webinar: Social and Emotional Learning for Traditionally Underserved Populations (Monday, December 4, 2017 from 3:00-4:30pm ET)
Social and emotional learning (SEL) plays a critical role in preparing young people for success in college, careers, and life. In order to ensure that SEL benefits all young people, it is important to consider how SEL initiatives affect traditionally underserved student populations and how they can be tailored to better meet the unique needs of different learners. This webinar will feature deep discussion on the importance of SEL for three traditionally underserved groups: students with disabilities, English language learners, and youth involved in the juvenile justice system. Presenters include: Logan Beyer, American Youth Policy Forum; Dr. David Lichtenstein, Psychologist and Classroom Team Leader, Bradley Schools (Rhode Island); Dr. Sara Castro-Olivo, Associate Professor of Educational Psychology, Texas A&M University; Melissa Svigelj-Smith, Teacher, Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center (Ohio); and Respondent: Jennifer Brown Lerner, Assistant Director for Policy and Partnerships, National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development, the Aspen Institute

Webinar: Supporting Students with Disabilities through Personalized Learning (Monday, January 8, 2018 from 2:00-3:15pm ET)
Many educators and leaders are aware of the multiple benefits of personalized learning, including increased student agency, improved student learning, and more intentional planning for college and careers. Personalized learning has inherent benefits for students with disabilities, but there are also inherent challenges. For example, conversations about students with disabilities and personalized learning remain generic and often students’ unique needs and learning styles are not adequately considered at the outset of implementation. To successfully implement personalized learning specifically for students with disabilities, educators and leaders need a clear understanding of what these approaches look like in practice, what policy and practice changes they require, and what supports need to be in place. This webinar will focus on the emerging efforts to use personalized learning approaches to better serve students with disabilities, tools that are designed to help policymakers and practitioners, and strategies to help build the capacity of schools to use this approach. Presenters include: Dr. George Batsche, Professor and Program Coordinator of Graduate Programs in School Psychology, University of South Florida; Lindsey Hayes, Researcher, Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform Center (CEEDAR), American Institutes for Research; Catherine Jacques, Researcher, College and Career Readiness and Success Center, American Institutes for Research; Ace Parsi, Personalized Learning Partnership Manager, National Center for Learning Disabilities; and Jenna Tomasello, Policy Associate, American Youth Policy Forum

AYPF RESOURCES AND PUBLICATIONS

Forum Brief: Advancing Pathways to Education and Workforce Opportunities for Systems-Involved Youth 
Young people involved in the child welfare and/or juvenile justice systems often face significant challenges to long-term success. Systems-involved youth may struggle with an array of education and workforce barriers that hinder their path to postsecondary opportunities and a family-sustaining career. This forum explored critical elements at the intersection of policy and practice for supporting these youth on a pathway to long-term success.

Forum Brief: Employer-Driven Innovations in CTE: Promise, Practice, & Opportunities for Policy 
According to projections, in order to stay economically viable, our country will need to dramatically increase the working-age population that earns a high-quality postsecondary credential (degree, certificate, etc.) to meet future workforce needs. This Capitol Hill forum, co-sponsored by MDRC, presented leading research on CTE and analysis of the evolving workforce needs which have influenced the development of innovative CTE strategies.

Webinar Recording: Key Teaching and Learning Shifts for Personalized Learning: Preparing for Success
This webinar focused on the key teaching and learning shifts that occur in successful personalized learning settings over time, including how these shifts can help improve students’ college and career readiness. Participants learned about the specific skills teachers and students use in many personalized learning settings, the key shifts in instructional planning and delivery, and the ways in which personalized learning settings can help students develop transferable skills and competencies over time.

Policy Brief (AYPF and Civic Enterprises): Measuring Success: Accountability for Alternative Education
This policy brief aims to address four key opportunities states have both within and outside of ESSA to better understand and ultimately improve alternative education: 1) Definition (What is alternative education?); 2) Accountability Systems (What structures can states put into place to ensure alternative settings are appropriately held accountable?); 3) Accountability Measures (What measures can states consider that accurately reflect the quality of alternative settings?); and 4) Continuous Improvement (How can states use accountability for alternative settings as a tool for continuous improvement?)

Please visit our YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/amyouthpolicyforum for video for clips of events, interviews and more.

Forum For Thought Blog

• Policy Research intern, Olivia Thomas postulates whether after school programs can help disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline. Read More
• Guest blogger Emily Liebtag, Getting Smart, shares why Detroit schools should not be counted out, following attendance at a Hewlett Foundation gathering in Detroit, Michigan. Read More
• Policy Research intern, Anu Anand posits whether chronic absenteeism alone fully captures the potential of the 5th indicator in ESSA state accountability plans. Read More
• Policy Research Assistant, Jessica Kannam discusses how three CTE programs define and incorporate skill development in their work. Read More

Click here to view all AYPF publications
Click here to view AYPF’s resource pages 

RECOMMENDED READING AND RESOURCES

Check these out – recommended reading from the AYPF staff:

William T. Grant Foundation, Spencer Foundation & Child Trends: Research-Practice Partnerships: Building Two-Way Streets of Engagement
This report discuss how RPPs challenge researchers and practitioners to work together in new ways, as well as how to improve these relationships to enhance youth outcomes. Two case studies highlight partnership designs and common pitfalls.

William T. Grant Foundation: Assessing Research-Practice Partnerships: Five dimensions of Effectiveness
This report introduces a framework that comprises five dimensions for assessing education RPPs, in addition to indicators for each, which describe where to look for evidence of progress.

University of Colorado Boulder & University of Rochester: How Research-Practice Partnerships Can Support ESSA Implementation for Educational Improvement and Equity
This guide for school districts, state leaders, and researchers shows how research-practice partnerships can play an important role in implementing the Every Student Succeeds Act.

The American Institutes for Research, Released by The Wallace Foundation: Review of Evidence: Arts Integration Research Through the Lens of the Every Student Succeeds Act
This report examines programs that integrate art into their curriculum and ESSA.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Center for Education and Workforce:Bridging the Soft Skills Gap
This report outlines how the business and education sectors are partnering to prepare students for the 21st century workforce.

Afterschool Alliance: Building Workforce Skills in Afterschool
This issue brief highlights the ladder of supports afterschool and summer learning programs provide to help students develop the skills and gain the experience that will benefit them in the workforce, from building communication and teamwork skills in elementary school to connecting students to internships and apprenticeships in high school.