Attitudes to Reading and Writing and their Links with Social Mobility 1914-2014: An Evidence Review

This review has drawn on a range of literature, archive material, family interviews and data gathered using social media to explore attitudes to reading and writing and their links with social mobility from 1914 to the present day. It identifies the many ways in which families read for pleasure and identifies ways in which Booktrust’s activity might be developed

Desventajas socioculturales y déficits acumulados: ¿qué educación puede combatir las desigualdades?

This article focuses on identifying the root causes of educational problems before starting “educational treatment” It starts from the premise that prevention is better than cure since it avoids further damage and is a way to prevent the problem from getting worse. Prevention understood as early action, which takes advantage of adequate planning and programming processes, keeps us away from the dangers of school failure, and guarantees us “cultural health”. Through a contrasted and comparative methodology, it was possible to analyze and interpret the sources that inform a review of the literature, with the objective of understanding how students should be helped at an early stage if they do not have the necessary conditions to face their path of acquisition. The aim is to prevent teachers from “returning” responsibilities once the damage is done, by compensating and treating the “deficit” and creating favorable conditions before starting the new segment of education. The article addresses these problems by trying to focus attention on the cumulative capacity of the “difficulty” to consolidate and grow, making subsequent compensatory interventions more problematic in their effects.Este artículo se centra en la identificación de las causas fundamentales de los problemas educativos antes de iniciar el “tratamiento educativo”. Se parte de la premisa que es mejor prevenir que curar, ya que evita los daños posteriores y es una forma de evitar que el problema empeore. La prevención entendida como acción temprana, que aprovecha los procesos adecuados de planificación y programación, nos mantiene alejados de los peligros del fracaso escolar y nos garantiza una “salud cultural plena”. A través de una metodología contrastada y comparativa, fue posible analizar e interpretar las fuentes que informan una revisión de la literatura, con el objetivo de entender cómo se debe ayudar a los estudiantes en una etapa temprana si no tienen las condiciones necesarias para enfrentar su camino de adquisición. Se intenta evitar que los profesores “devuelvan” las responsabilidades una vez que el daño está hecho, compensando y tratando el “déficit” y creando condiciones favorables antes de iniciar el nuevo segmento de la educación. El artículo aborda estos problemas tratando de centrar la atención en la capacidad acumulativa de la “dificultad” para consolidarse y crecer, haciendo que las posteriores intervenciones compensatorias sean más problemáticas en sus efectos

Youth and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs): Challenges and Opportunities for Implementation

Young people ages 15 to 24 are 1.2 billion of the world’s human capital. Around the world, many of them are already making contributions to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and their work should be further acknowledged and strengthened. Increasingly, youth are recognized as key participants in decision-making and development, as reflected in the growing presence of non-governmental youth organizations and the upsurge of youth advisory boards and committees to international institutions and programmes. Yet building the capacity of and creating sustained partnerships with young people are crucial strategies to achieving the MDGs that have not been fully realized by the international community. This paper aims to provide an overview of youth participation as it currently exists, to outline the ways in which youth are directly involved and affected by each Goal, to demonstrate the ways in which young people are contributing to the MDGs, and to provide ‘Options for Action’ that governments, the United Nations system, donors and other actors can harness, support, and scale-up in order to support young people in making significant contributions to achieving the MDGs. Part I outlines the existing mechanisms for youth participation in development policy. These channels can be used by governments and institutions to strengthen and mobilize young people as partners in policy formulation. Successful modes of participation should be recognized and replicated, and also adapted to the challenging political and socio-economic realities facing many youth-led and youth-serving organizations. Part II presents youth participation as it relates directly to the MDGs. Each goal is analyzed with respect to its effect on young peoples lives as well as how young people can play – and indeed are playing — a role in its implementation. Under each goal are a number of “Options for Action” that governments, the UN and multilateral organizations can use to fully harness the contributions that youth can make to achieving the MDGs. Part III outlines the synergies between the Options for Action presented in this report and the Quick Wins proposed by the Millennium Project. The Options for Action are complimentary and provide a process to implement the Quick Win actions, using young people as key implementing agents and service providers. Part III also outlines a number of youth-focused Quick Wins that can make a significant and measurable difference to the state of young people in target countries. Part IV elaborates on how youth can participate in achieving the MDGs and contains cross-cutting recommendations on youth engagement in all 8 Goals. Overall, the report demonstrates that investing in youth will provide the longest and most effective dividend towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by building the social capital needed to foster pragmatic development. Indeed, without the involvement of young people, a demographic that comprises one fifth of the world’s total population, the full achievement of the MDGs will remain elusive and their long-term sustainability will be compromised. Youth participation is currently quite varied, ranging from effective, to sometimes tokenistic, to often non-existent. There are specific ways in which youth and youth organizations can contribute to the design and implementation of MDG-based strategies, some of which are outlined in this document. Many projects are already happening, but there is much work left still to be done.Youth participation; Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); Poverty Eradication

Mobilizing Communities to Support the Literacy Development of Urban Youth: A Conceptual Framework and Strategic Planning Model

Offers a strategic planning model for community mobilization around adolescent literacy development. Explores spheres of influence; strategies for schools, community groups, and families; outcomes; and lessons learned from other community change efforts

The interplay between literacy skills, literacy use and the personal lives: An assessment of women of rural Dagbon

This paper assessed the impact of adult literacy on the lives of women in rural Dagbon. Interviewing, focus group discussions and questionnaires were administered for data collection from two communities each from Tolon and Kumbungu districts of Ghana as well as the literacy providers. The sample respondents included 60 women who have successfully graduated from a literacy programme and 40 other community members included elders and immediate family members of beneficiaries. Key informant interviews were conducted to gather data from the literacy service providers. The study revealed that the acquisition of literacy skills enables the women gain organisational abilities through which they formed stronger social networks for solidarity, income generation and advocacy skills, to speak out on issues that directly affect their lives. The study revealed that adult literacy programmes do have the positive impact of empowering women, and that, scaling these programmes up, with more support, would contribute to the overall sustainable development of Dagbon in particular and Ghana as whole. Key Words: Rural women, Empowerment, Adult Literacy, Dagomba ethnic group, Northern regio

Strategic Document Review

The following briefing provides resources from community conversations, historical planning efforts, existing strategic plans, and reports from youth-facing organizations. In October 2020, Working Group members used the briefing book to inform solutions-building

Black Organizations as a Way to Increase Black Students’ College Attendance Rates by Improving Their Academic Performance at Primary and Secondary Schools

The racial academic achievement gap between Black students and other students is one of the most pressing education-policy challenges faced by the United States. This gap refers to the disparities in standardized test scores between these groups of students. Decades ago, Fordham and Ogbu’s theory about the “burden of acting White” was one of the most cited studies indicating the causes of this achievement gap. This theory indicates that Black students who do not perform well academically, do not want to achieve success at school because it is considered as acting White. However, this is an old way of thinking that has been largely discredited because a growing body of research, in which Gloria Ladson-Billings, Derrick Bell, Patricia Williams, and Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw are part, shows that this theory is not accurate because it does not take into account other social and educational factors that affect Black students. For that reason, through interviews, questionnaires, and document revision, this dissertation research attempts to analyze how Black organizations teach Black students to deal with their familial, educational, and community issues in order to help them focus more on an excellent academic performance in their primary and secondary school classes to increase their chances of going to college

Education Research Gender, Education and Development - A Partially Annotated and Selective Bibliography

Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Immigrant Integration: Educator Resource Guide

Recommends ways for district administrators, school administrators, and teachers to promote immigrant integration in schools in critical areas, including school enrollment, classroom instruction, student assessment, and family and community outreach