fyi

>Date: Thu, 03 Feb 2005 10:31:53 -0800 (PST)

>From: JFF NewsWire <newswire at jff.org>

>Subject: JFF Newswire #33, February 3, 2005

>

>~~~~~~~~~~

>JOBS FOR THE FUTURE

>Creating Strategies for Educational and Economic Opportunity

>

>NEWSWIRE #33, February 3, 2005

>http://www.jff.org/jff/newsroom/newswire/2005/NW_2_2005.html

>

>WELCOME TO NEWSWIRE, an electronic newsletter for policymakers,

>practitioners, the media, and the public about JFF and its efforts to:

>    ~ Create successful transitions for youth; and

>    ~ Build economic opportunity for adults.

>

>~~~~~

>IN ISSUE #33, February 3, 2005

>

>1. Fast Track to College:

>     Increasing Postsecondary Success for All Students

>

>2. Building Skills, Increasing Economic Vitality:

>     A Handbook of Innovative State Policies

>

>3. Big Buildings, Small Schools:

>     Using a Small Schools Strategy for High School Reform

>

>4. Foundations Target Dropout Crisis:

>     Five Cities Receive Grants for Innovative Partnerships

>

>5. Investing in Workforce Intermediaries:

>     Grants Support Demonstrations to Build Capacity

>

>6. Toward a Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund:

>     Legislation Filed in Massachusetts

>

>7. Making a Difference in Our Community:

>     JFF Hosts Breakfast Forum

>

>8. Closing the Race Achievement Gap:

>     A Forum and Discussion

>

>9. News of Early College High Schools

>   ~~ Integrating Grades 9 Through 14:

>        State Policies to Support and Sustain ECHSs

>   ~~ Investments Expand and Strengthen ECHS National Network

>   ~~ The Early College High School Initiative "At a Glance"

>

>10. From Our Friends:

>   ~~ Honors for Year Up

>   ~~ New Data on Dropouts

>   ~~ State Policies for School Restructuring

>   ~~ Literacy Coaches: An Evolving Role

>   ~~ The Expectations Gap:

>         A 50-State Review of High School Graduation Requirements

>   ~~ State Policies to Assist Working-Poor Families

>   ~~ Vertex: The Online Journal for Adult And Workforce Education

>~~~~~~~~~~

>

>~~~~~~~~~~

>1. Fast Track to College:

>     Increasing Postsecondary Success for All Students

>~~~~~~~~~~

>JFF co-founder Hilary Pennington proposes the development of three "fast

>track to college" alternatives to the traditional high school senior year,

>each of which would enable students to get a head start toward the goal

>of education for all through grade 14: an "Academic Head Start on College"

>to give academically motivated students the option of accelerating their

>progress through high school and college; an "Accelerated Career/

>Technical College" to give career/technical students a head start on

>earning transferable college credits at the same time as they prepare for

>entry-level jobs; and "College in the Community" to give students a

>deliberately structured "gap year" of community service and work

>experience in place of, rather than after, the traditional senior year.

>

>FAST TRACK TO COLLEGE, prepared for the Center for American

>Progress, is one of a series of Double the Numbers publications that Jobs

>for the Future will prepare in the coming year. Double the Numbers, an

>initiative of JFF, is designed to deepen support for policies that can

>dramatically increase the number of low-income young people who enter

>and complete postsecondary education. The initiative is supported by the

>Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Ford Foundation.

>

>To download FAST TRACK TO COLLEGE, go to:

>www.jff.org/kc/library/0243

>~~~~~~~~~~

>

>~~~~~~~~~~

>2. Building Skills, Increasing Economic Vitality:

>     A Handbook of Innovative State Policies

>~~~~~~~~~~

>Across the country, creative, entrepreneurial state policymakers and

>officials are considering new ways to build the skills of low-wage

>workers and increase the vitality of state economies. BUILDING SKILLS,

>INCREASING ECONOMIC VITALITY, by Radha Roy Biswas, Jack Mills, and

>Heath Prince of JFF, highlights some of the most promising developments

>in state workforce and skill development policy, focusing on four areas:

>redesigning financing for workforce development; strengthening

>workforce development/economic development linkages; building the

>capacity of workforce intermediaries; and expanding community college

>capacity.

>

>BUILDING SKILLS, INCREASING ECONOMIC VITALITY highlights state

>policies that respond to the complexities of the global economy. And these

>policies have been designed and implemented about despite tough fiscal

>conditions, restrictive federal regulations, and states' own institutional

>silos and roadblocks. This handbook will help states learn quickly from the

>best efforts of their peers, accelerating the trend toward coherent state

>policies that build skills and promote economic vitality over the long run.

>

>To download BUILDING SKILLS, INCREASING ECONOMIC VITALITY, go to:

>www.jff.org/jff/kc/library/0244

>~~~~~~~~~~

>

>~~~~~~~~~~

>3. Big Buildings, Small Schools:

>     Using a Small Schools Strategy for High School Reform

>~~~~~~~~~~

>How can large, under-performing urban high schools become learning

>environments characterized by academic rigor, curricular relevance, and

>mutually supportive relationships? One strategy, being tried in a growing

>number of school districts, is to transform their large high schools into

>complexes of smaller ones.

>

>BIG BUILDINGS, SMALL SCHOOLS explores how these communities are

>using small school development as a central strategy for improving large

>high schools and overhauling the way school districts do business. As

>authors Lili Allen and Adria Steinberg write, "For school districts, the

>process of converting schools from large to small offers a potentially

>powerful opportunity to create a 'defining moment' of change at the school

>site--an opportunity to provide the most fertile conditions for excellent

>teaching and learning." BIG BUILDINGS, SMALL SCHOOLS explores the

>implementation and policy issues that arise in this process, describing key

>decision points and trade-offs faced by school reform leaders.

>

>BIG BUILDINGS, SMALL SCHOOLS is a joint publication of JFF and The

>Education Alliance at Brown University, with support from Carnegie

>Corporation of New York. Print copies are available by contacting

>info at jff.org.

>

>To download BIG BUILDINGS, SMALL SCHOOLS, go to:

>http://www.jff.org/jff/kc/library/0237

>~~~~~~~~~~

>

>~~~~~~~~~~

>4. Foundations Target Dropout Crisis:

>     Five Cities Receive Grants for Innovative Partnerships

>~~~~~~~~~~

>Three foundations are putting a total of $2 million into an initiative to

>support local efforts to combat the silent crisis of too many students

>dropping out of high school. Nationally, more than 30% of students do not

>complete high school in a timely way. In some inner-city neighborhoods,

>the odds of high school graduation are only fifty-fifty.

>

>In response to this alarming trend, several funders have come together to

>support efforts in selected cities to improve educational options and

>outcomes for the growing numbers of struggling and out-of-school youth.

>The Youth Transition Funders Group, a group of local, regional, and

>national philanthropies, has announced grants to enable five cities to

>strengthen their strategies for reducing the numbers of young people who

>drop out and reconnecting those who have left school. Three members of

>the Youth Transition Funders Group--the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,

>Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Charles Stewart Mott

>Foundation--have provided funding for the new grant program.

>

>Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Portland (OR), and San Jose (CA) will

>receive grants of $275,000 each from the Initiative to Support Struggling

>Students and Out-of-School Youth. The grants will fund broad-based

>partnerships that include educational advocacy groups, public school

>districts, public care agencies, service providers, parents, youth, and

>other stakeholders. The initiative will also support extensive technical

>assistance and cross-site learning activities. JFF is staffing this 

>initiative

>and providing strategic consultation to the city partnerships.

>

>For more information on THE INITIATIVE TO SUPPORT STRUGGLING

>STUDENTS AND OUT-OF-SCHOOL YOUTH, go to:

>http://www.jff.org/jff/newsroom/PR/2005/PR_1_12_2005.html

>~~~~~~~~~~

>

>~~~~~~~~~~

>5. Investing in Workforce Intermediaries:

>     Grants Support Demonstrations to Build Capacity

>~~~~~~~~~~

>America's prosperity depends on the strength of its workforce, yet over a

>third of the U.S. workforce lacks the skills needed to succeed in today's

>labor market. In cities across the nation, a variety of organizations play 

>the

>role of workforce intermediary, organizing the key stakeholders and local

>resources to help workers to gain the skills they need and businesses to

>access the skilled labor they need. INVESTING IN WORKFORCE

>INTERMEDIARIES, a project of the Annie E. Casey, Rockefeller, and Ford

>foundations, seeks to build the capacity of these workforce intermediaries

>by: building local/regional workforce intermediary capacity in metropolitan

>areas and states; and building national support for workforce intermediary

>capacity. Investing in and supporting workforce intermediaries in key

>metropolitan areas and states will provide important lessons about how

>workforce systems can better upgrade the skills and incomes of the poor.

>

>In January, the funders announced the first investments with grants to

>citywide efforts in Boston, Austin, San Francisco, and New York City,

>plus a statewide grant for Pennsylvania. To begin their work, project

>leaders from each of these sites, as well as foundation representatives,

>came together in December 2004 at a meeting organized by Jobs for the

>Future as part of its work helping to staff the national project. The meeting

>gave the sites an opportunity to begin shaping a common purpose and

>direction for their work. It also began a process for each of the various

>projects to learn from the others' approaches to building the capacity of

>workforce intermediaries and promoting change in the broader workforce

>development system.

>

>For more information on INVESTING IN WORKFORCE INTERMEDIARIES, go

>to: http://www.jff.org/jff/kc/library/0246

>~~~~~~~~~~

>~~~~~~~~~~

>6. Toward a Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund:

>     Legislation Filed in Massachusetts

>~~~~~~~~~~

>In December 2004, legislation was filed to create a Workforce

>Competitiveness Trust Fund in Massachusetts. The proposed "Workforce

>Solutions Act of 2005" would make, the legislation states, "investments in

>employer and community-based workforce development activities in order

>to maintain and increase economic vitality in Massachusetts and to

>promote business competitiveness, worker self-sufficiency, and economic

>progress."

>

>The legislation was prepared by the Workforce Solutions Group, the public

>policy advocacy partnership funded by SkillWorks: Partners for a

>Productive Workforce to work on workforce development systems reform

>in the state. SkillWorks is the single largest public/private investment in

>workforce development in Boston's history. The initiative seeks to change

>the way employers hire and promote entry-level workers from Boston's

>neighborhoods. Jobs for the Future plans and manages the overall

>initiative and its Public Policy Advocacy component.

>

>For more information on SKILLWORKS and to download the proposed

>legislation, go to:

>http://www.skill-works.org/resources.html

>~~~~~~~~~~

>

>~~~~~~~~~~

>7. Making a Difference in Our Community:

>     JFF Hosts Breakfast Forum

>~~~~~~~~~~

>In conjunction with Martin Luther King's birthday, JFF invited leaders from

>Boston-area CBOs, foundations, and government to a community

>breakfast to learn about two innovative initiatives that are improving the

>lives of Boston residents and to explore the challenges and opportunities

>of new ways to make an impact in our community. Both Boston's High

>School Renewal Initiative and SkillWorks: Partners for a Productive

>Workforce bring together community-based organizations, employers,

>schools, and other institutions to make a powerful difference.

>

>This annual breakfast forum is part of JFF's efforts to initiate an ongoing

>dialogue direct service communities in the Boston area and to give new

>exposure and networking opportunities. It provides participants with an

>opportunity to learn about JFF, what we are doing in our project work, and

>how that work might offer new avenues or solutions for their

>constituencies or members.

>

>SKILLWORKS: This ambitious effort on the part of philanthropy,

>government, community organizations, unions, and employers seeks to

>create a workforce development system that helps low-skill, low-income

>residents move to family-sustaining jobs and helps employers find and

>retain skilled employees. For more information, go to:

>www.skill-works.org

>

>SMALL SCHOOLS INITIATIVE: Spearheaded by the Boston Public Schools'

>Office of High School Renewal, Boston is using a range of innovative

>strategies to create new small schools. Boston's goal is to fundamentally

>redesign the high school system to provide an excellent education to

>every student. For more information, go to:

>http://www.jff.org/jff/approaches/youthtrans/showcase/BostonHSRenewal.html

>~~~~~~~~~~

>

>~~~~~~~~~~

>8. Closing the Race Achievement Gap:

>     A Forum and Discussion

>~~~~~~~~~~

>In December, the Harvard Graduate School of Education hosted Richard

>Rothstein, former education columnist of the "New York Times," in a

>discussion of factors contributing to the race achievement gap. While

>policymakers attempt to narrow the achievement gap by implementing

>school reform efforts targeting accountability, leadership, and teacher

>quality, Rothstein says that approach has neglected other critical social

>reforms.

>

>Panelist  Donna Rodrigues, program director at JFF and founder of the

>University Park Campus School in Worcester, MA, drew on her 35 years

>of experience in public education to comment on Rothstein's presentation.

>She noted that, while it would be "naive and wrong to think that educators

>alone can change the picture for what is now the new majority of

>students entering school," she reaffirmed her belief "that the molding or

>demise of a new generation of the holders of knowledge happens in

>schools." Also on the panel were  Ronald Ferguson, lecturer in public

>policy at the Kennedy School of Government, and Dan Koretz, professor

>of education at Harvard Graduate School of Education. Robert Schwartz,

>lecturer on education, moderated.

>

>To read Rodrigues' comments, go to:

>http://www.jff.org/jff/newsroom/IOW/2004/IOW_DR_12_04.html

>

>The complete forum transcript will be available soon at:

>http://forum.wgbh.org/wgbh/forum.php?category=Education

>~~~~~~~~~~

>

>~~~~~~~~~~

>9. News of Early College High Schools

>~~~~~~~~~~

>  ~~ INTEGRATING GRADES 9 THROUGH 14: STATE POLICIES TO

>SUPPORT AND SUSTAIN EARLY COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOLS. Nancy

>Hoffman and Joel Vargas of JFF identify the policy challenges

>encountered in implementing early college high schools, which, because

>they blend secondary and postsecondary education, require two

>incompatible systems to work collaboratively. Early college high schools

>are designed to help students currently underrepresented in higher

>education to achieve a high school diploma and an Associate's degree or

>two years of transferable college credit within four to five years. Through

>the Early College High School Initiative, which JFF coordinates, over 180 of

>these schools will open nationally over the next four years.

>http://www.jff.org/jff/kc/library/0245

>

>  ~~ INVESTMENTS EXPAND AND STRENGTHEN ECHS NATIONAL

>NETWORK. In December,  the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced

>$29.6 million in grants to eight organizations to expand the early college

>high school network to more than 25 states. More than $22 million will

>support the creation of 42 new schools throughout the country through

>investments in Antioch University Seattle, the Middle College National

>Consortium, Portland Community College's Gateway to College, the

>Rochester Area Community Foundation, the Georgia Department of

>Education and the University System of Georgia, KnowledgeWorks

>Foundation, and the National Council of La Raza. A $7 million investment in

>JFF, which leads the implementation of the network, will expand the

>technical assistance available for the network and help establish a system

>to monitor the progress of young people enrolled in these schools.

>http://www.earlycolleges.org/PC120704.html

>

>~~ THE EARLY COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOL INITIATIVE "AT A GLANCE." This

>two-page fact sheet provides an up-to-date profile of the initiative, with a

>map of schools, data on the number of schools and students, and other

>key information.

>http://www.earlycolleges.org/Library.html#ataglance

>~~~~~~~~~~

>

>~~~~~~~~~~

>10. From Our Friends

>~~~~~~~~~~

>~~ HONORS FOR YEAR UP: Fast Company, along with the Monitor Group,

>selected Year Up as one of twenty-five national non-profit organizations

>to receive their Social Capitalist Award. Year Up is a one-year, intensive

>training program that provides urban young adults aged 18-24 with a

>unique combination of technical and professional skills, college credits,

>and a paid corporate internship. JFF is helping Year Up to develop a

>financially and politically viable growth strategy and to implement a

>measurement system that supports it programmatic goals.

>http://www.yearup.org/aboutus_news.htm

>

>Year Up was also the subject of a feature in the "Christian Science

>Monitor."

>http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1221/p11s01-legn.htm

>

>~~ NEW DATA ON DROPOUTS: This report, the latest in a series from

>National Center for Education Statistics, presents estimates of dropout

>rates in 2001 and includes data on high school dropout and completion

>rates for 1972 through 2001. It also examines the characteristics of high

>school dropouts and high school graduates. While progress was made

>during the 1970s and 1980s, high school dropout rates and high school

>completion rates have since stagnated.

>http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/dropout2001/

>

>~~STATE POLICIES FOR SCHOOL RESTRUCTURING: New from the

>Education Commission of the States, this report takes a detailed look at

>state policies for school restructuring, as defined by the No Child Left

>Behind Act. It pays particular attention to the option of closing low-

>performing schools and reopening them as charter schools. Included are

>summaries of the state policies that are in place in these areas.

>http://www.ecs.org/html/Document.asp?chouseid=5702

>

>~~LITERACY COACHES: AN EVOLVING ROLE: The concept of literacy

>coaches dates back to the 1920s, but they are increasingly in demand in

>21st century schools. Writing in "Carnegie Reporter," Barbara Hall looks at

>this growing development in the field of American education and its role in

>school reform in Boston and other cities across the country.

>http://www.carnegie.org/reporter/09/literacy/index.html

>

>~~ THE EXPECTATIONS GAP: A 50-STATE REVIEW OF HIGH SCHOOL

>GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS: According to Achieve, Inc., there is an

>"'expectations gap' between high school course requirements and real-

>world demands of college and the workplace. No state currently requires

>every high school student to take a college- and work-preparatory

>curriculum to earn a diploma.

>http://www.achieve.org/achieve.nsf/ADP-CloseGap?openform

>

>~~ STATE POLICIES TO ASSIST WORKING-POOR FAMILIES. For a large

>and growing number of Americans, having a job is not enough to lift them

>out of poverty. This report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

>presents a menu of practical policy options that states can adopt to help

>working-poor families meet their basic needs and improve their lives.

>  http://www.cbpp.org/12-10-04sfp.htm

>

>~~ VERTEX:THE ONLINE JOURNAL FOR ADULT AND WORKFORCE

>EDUCATION: The goal of this new journal is to be a comprehensive source

>promoting practice, research, and theory in adult basic education, ESL,

>and human resource development. Submissions invited.

>http://vawin.jmu.edu/vertex/

>

>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>How can NEWSWIRE serve you? We welcome your thoughts.

>

>Contact: Carmon Cunningham, V.P. for Technology and Communications,

>ccunningham at jff.org.

>

>For more information, consult our Web site:

>http://www.jff.org

>

>Please forward NEWSWIRE to your colleagues. To add your name to the

>subscription list, send a message to newswire at jff.org with subject

>"subscribe".

>

>Jobs for the Future believes that all young people should have a quality

>high school and postsecondary education and that all adults should have

>the skills needed to hold jobs that pay enough to support a family. As a

>non-profit research, consulting, and advocacy organization, JFF works to

>strengthen our society by creating educational and economic opportunity

>for those who need it most.

>

>Jobs for the Future

>88 Broad Street

>Boston, MA 02110

>617.728.4446

>http://www.jff.org

>~~~~

>

>

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