The Policy Climate for Early Adolescent Initiatives

In an era that is instinctively distrustful of public solutions to problems of individual and family behavior, this essay outlines a broad strategy for early adolescent initiatives that considers, then exploits, the limitations of the current policy climate. The author discusses such strategies as connecting local and state initiatives with federal opportunities; the importance of marketing initiatives clearly and with an emphasis on impact; and the nuances of collaboration. Implementing these strategies are the most effective means to transcend the chilly climate that exists for early adolescent initiatives

Midcourse Corrections to a Major Initiative: A Report on The James Irvine Foundation's CORAL Experience

Draws lessons from the reorientation of the Communities Organizing Resources to Advance Learning (CORAL) Initiative, a $60 million initiative aimed at improving educational achievement in low-performing schools in five California cities

Mentoring, Policy and Politics

In this policy brief, former P/PV President Gary Walker asks, Is mentoring now a durable part of American social policy? If so is this unalloyed good news? Adapted from an article that first appeared in The Handbook of Youth Mentoring (DuBois and Karcher, ed. 2005), the brief reflects on the impact and appeal of mentoring, addresses various critiques of the movement and suggests future directions for mentorings application

Philanthropy and Outcomes: Dilemmas in the Quest for Accountability

Grantees report that never before have grant negotiations with foundation staffs been so focused on specifying outcomes. Some foundations have employed consultants to work with their staffs so that inputs, operational processes, and intended intermediate and long-term outcomes and impacts are specified and differentiated. A number have added evaluation departments to their organizational structure. Small and medium sized foundations, which have previously given exclusively to direct services, are now asking for and funding evaluations, so that they may know with objectivity and rigor if the projected outcomes are achieved. We do not recommend a moratorium on all outcome and impact assessments. In some settings, formal impact evaluation is what is called for. What we are arguing for is a strategic rethinking of when to utilize the tools of formal outcome and impact research

Supporting Answerers with Feedback in Social Q&A

Prior research has examined the use of Social Question and Answer (Q&A) websites for answer and help seeking. However, the potential for these websites to support domain learning has not yet been realized. Helping users write effective answers can be beneficial for subject area learning for both answerers and the recipients of answers. In this study, we examine the utility of crowdsourced, criteria-based feedback for answerers on a student-centered Q&A website, Brainly.com. In an experiment with 55 users, we compared perceptions of the current rating system against two feedback designs with explicit criteria (Appropriate, Understandable, and Generalizable). Contrary to our hypotheses, answerers disagreed with and rejected the criteria-based feedback. Although the criteria aligned with answerers' goals, and crowdsourced ratings were found to be objectively accurate, the norms and expectations for answers on Brainly conflicted with our design. We conclude with implications for the design of feedback in social Q&A.Comment: Published in Proceedings of the Fifth Annual ACM Conference on Learning at Scale, Article No. 10, London, United Kingdom. June 26 - 28, 201

Youth Development: Issues, Challenges and Directions

During the past decade there has been considerable concern and discussion about what Americans can do to improve the lives and life prospects of our youth. The changing economy, the stress on family and community life that changing economy brings, concern about the adequacy of public education, the highly publicized incidents of gun violence in schools and the very large cohort of teenagers that this decade brings have only heightened the legitimacy, and the rhetoric, of that concern. In this volume of nine essays, leading researchers and practitioners in the field of youth development share what they have learned over the past decade about the potential challenges of the "youth development approach" and offer some suggestions about how to proceed in the coming decade

Midcourse Corrections to a Major Initiative: A Report on The James Irvine Foundation's CORAL Initiative

This report draws lessons from the reorientation of the Communities Organizing Resources to Advance Learning (CORAL) initiative. CORAL is a $58 million initiative aimed at improving education achievement in low-performing schools in five California cities. The report outlines the inherent challenges to making midcourse corrections to major initiatives. It also reveals lessons that foundations and nonprofits can learn from the CORAL experience, including the importance of midcourse reviews for multiyear initiatives and the value of setting clear and measurable interim outcomes

Effect of tillage and trafficking on soil properties as indicated by cone penetrometer measurements

An evaluation of the capabilities of a microprocessor-based, tractor-mounted soil cone penetrometer for sustained acquisition of reliable, repeatable data was initiated. Based on in-field observations, the penetrometer electronic data handling package and hydraulic system were modified to allow improved machine performance. The penetrometer was then used to collect soil data in soybean plots subjected to continuous annual applications of six different tillage practices. After data acquisition, analyses of variance were performed to determine depth of tillage influence and to indicate differences in soil strength which could be attributed to particular tillage practices. Effects of trafficking on soil strength properties were also determined using cone index. Results indicated that no-tillage plots continually cropped with soybeans followed by a wheat cover crop tended to have higher cone indices to a depth of 10 inches than any other tillage treatment. Highest cone index values were observed between 4 and 8 inches in depth for the various tillage treatments considered collectively. Wheel-track penetrations tended to have higher cone index values than either row-middle or under-row penetrations to a depth of 10 inches