Library

Looking for new and notable information to help you dig deeper into an issue? Start with these featured reports and web sites, and then browse through our full selection by topic.

Reports: Featured

Best practices for tutoring programs: a guide to quality
Saint Paul Public Schools Foundation, December 2011, 69 pp.
Presents research-based insights into the systems and habits that cultivate the most rewarding learning environments for youth. more info >

oneMinneapolis: Community indicators report
Wilder Research, October 2011, 64 pp.
A look at disparities in education, economic vitality, and social capital indicators for the city of Minneapolis. more info >

Beds not buses: Housing vs. transportation for homeless students
National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, September 2011, 21 pp.
This report explores the idea that providing affordable housing to homeless families is more cost-effective than providing federally mandated transportation for homeless students. more info >

A crisis in our community: Closing the five education gaps
African American Leadership Forum, September 2011, 28 pp.
This report outlines five gaps in educational achievement for African American children in Minnesota--preparation, belief, time, teaching, and leadership -- and a plan for closing those gaps. more info >

Montgomery County School District's targeted approach raises the bar and reduces the gap
Growth & Justice, July 2011, 4 pp.
Success in the suburban school district of Maryland’s Montgomery County demonstrates how a sustained and multi-faceted effort to raise the academic bar and close gaps in learning can boost academic performance by students of color and increase it for white students as well. more info >

Double jeopardy: How third-grade reading skills and poverty influence high school graduation
The Annie E. Casey Foundation, April 2011, 15 pp.
This report finds that children who have lived in poverty and are not reading proficiently in 3rd grade are three times more likely to dropout or fail to graduate from high school than those who have never been poor. more info >

Breaking barriers 2: Plotting the path away from juvenile detention and toward academic success for school-age African American males
Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, April 2011, 90 pp.
Summarizes the literature and analyzes survey responses from a spectrum of school-age black males to provide information and implications for policy and practice in the areas of reducing suspensions and disciplinary referrals, preventing delinquency, eliminating gang activity in schools, returning to school from juvenile detention, and reducing drug-related arrests. more info >

Immigrant children: The Future of Children Spring 2011
The Brookings Institution and Princeton University, March 2011, 270 pp.
Includes a variety of articles that look at the well-being of immigrant children and what can be done to improve their educational attainment, health, social and cognitive development, and long-term prospects for economic mobility. more info >

The impact of youth development programs on student academic achievement
National Collaboration for Youth, March 2011, 8 pp.
This brief cites evaluations and profiles of a sample of diverse community-based programs that affect student performance and reduce negative outcomes. more info >

Beyond the bottom line: Ideas for the future of public investment in Minnesota
March 2011, 53 pp.
Presents 16 ideas that could help Minnesota leaders redesign public services to maximize impact while saving money. This is a follow-up report to Bridges to a Better Bottom Line. more info >

Getting prepared: A 2010 report on recent high school graduates who took developmental/remedial courses
Minnesota State Colleges & Universities; University of Minnesota, January 2011, 56 pp.
Reports data on recent public high school graduates who take developmental (or remedial) courses in Minnesota's two public university systems, as one measure of the state’s performance in preparing K-12 students for college. more info >

Minnesota student survey, 1992-2010 trends: Behaviors, attitudes and perceptions of Minnesota's 6th, 9th and 12th graders
Minnesota Departments of Education, Health, Human Services and Public Safety, December 2010, 52 pp.
This report identifies trends in the prevalence of behaviors and attitudes of young people, based on 21 years of data from the Minnesota Student Survey. It highlights key indicators across many areas of interest, including: academics and school connectedness, school safety and violence, mental health, ATOD, sexual behavior and family structure. more info >

Building a grad nation: Progress and challenge in ending the high school dropout epidemic
America's Promise Alliance, November 2010, 88 pp.
This report shows how some states and school districts are raising their high school graduation rates with scalable solutions in public schools, revealing that more than half of all states increased their statewide graduation rate from 2002 to 2008. more info >

How the world's most improved school systems keep getting better
McKinsey & Company, November 2010, 126 pp.
A comprehensive analysis of global school system reform. It identifies the reform elements that are replicable for school systems everywhere as well as what it takes to achieve significant, sustained, and widespread gains in student outcomes. more info >

Young children of immigrants: The leading edge of America's future
The Urban Institute, August 2010, 14 pp.
Highlights information about children 0-8 growing up in immigrant families in the United States, including immigration trends, impact on schools, and parental and family characteristics. more info >

Change in income by education level, by race in Minnesota
The Minnesota Private College Council, Fund and Research Foundation, July 2010, 11 pp.
This brief examines income in Minnesota by race/ethnicity for each level of education attained, and illustrates income premiums for each level of education over a high school credential. It also compares income by age for each level of education, to show earning power over time. more info >

America's children in brief: Key national indicators of well-being, 2010
Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, July 2010, 22 pp.
Reports data on a set of indicators of child well-being. Indicators included are in the categories of family and social environment, economic categories, health care, physical environment and safety, behavior, education, and health. more info >

Help wanted: Projections of jobs and education requirements through 2018
Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, June 2010, 122 pp.
Provides detailed national forecasts of educational demand from 2008 through 2018, including educational demand by education level, occupation, and industry. Minnesota is ranked among the top five states that will lead the nation in job openings requiring postsecondary education. more info >

Listening to new voices: Youth voices on staying in school & dropout prevention in Minnesota
The Konopka Institute and Minnesota Department of Education, June 2010, 14 pp.
Results of listening groups with middle and high school aged youth in Minnesota about why students dropout. more info >

Engaging older youth: Program and city-level strategies to support sustained paticipation in out-of-school time
Harvard Family Research Project, April 2010, 106 pp.
This report examines almost 200 out-of-school time programs serving primarily low-income youth. It focuses on programs with high participation and retention rates in order to identify the program characteristics found to be the most successful in retaining older youth, as well as the strategies that cities are using to support participation. more info >

Structuring out-of-school time to improve academic achievement
Institute of Education Sciences, July 2009, 98 pp.
Presents five recommendations intended to help district and school administrators, out-of-school program providers, and educators design out-of-school time programs that will increase learning for students. Each recommendation is accompanied by supporting research, implementation steps and ways to address potential roadblocks. more info >

Using early-warning data to improve graduation rates: Closing cracks in the education system
Alliance for Excellent Education, August 2008, 14 pp.
This brief describes the use of early-warning data and describes examples of U.S. efforts to use this data to guide school interventions. more info >

A place to grow and learn: A citywide approach to building and sustaining out-of-school time learning opportunities
The Wallace Foundation, February 2008, 16 pp.
Drawing on early lessons from a Wallace initiative in five cities, this report describes a novel, coordinated approach to achieve widespread, sustained improvements in the quality and reach of "OST" programs so that many more children can benefit. more info >

Web sites

Education Policy Research
Education section of Mathmatica Policy Research. Provides research information about topics including curriculum, teacher quality, at-risk youth, technology and school choice. more info >

The Educator's reference desk
Resources on all aspects of education. more info >

The Campbell Collaboration
International collaboration that is compiling a database of effective programs and practices in the areas of crime and justice, education and social welfare. more info >