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2019-09-05
Rutgers University Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy;
For more than a decade, states and cities across the country have served a leadership role in advancing science-informed climate policy through city, state and multi-state efforts. The rapid pace by which state climate policy is emerging is evidenced by the number of new laws, directives and policies adopted in 2018 and the first half of 2019 alone. Currently, there is an active ongoing dialogue across the U.S. regarding the intersection of climate and equity objectives with efforts targeted at addressing needs of disadvantaged communities and consumers. This climate/equity intersection is due to several factors, including recognition by many cities and states that climate change is and will continue to have a disproportionate impact on certain populations and will exacerbate existing stressors faced by disadvantaged communities and consumers. Research indicates that a greater proportion of environmental burden exists in geographic areas with majority populations of people of color, low-income residents, and/or indigenous people. It is well known that certain households (including some that are low-income, African American, Latino, multi-family and rural) spend a larger portion on their income on home energy costs. States and stakeholders are realizing that a transition to a low-carbon future by mid-century will require significantly increased participation of disadvantaged communities and households in the benefits of climate and clean energy programs.
2019-07-30
W.K. Kellogg Foundation;
As the country becomes more diverse, schools that successfully engage all families will transform learning and leadership. This executive summary captures "takeways" from partnerships forged by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) to create environments where teachers, families and community members can effectively collaborate and share power.
2019-01-01
National Center for Healthy Housing, Inc.;
The Maine Legislature established the Lead Poisoning Prevention Fund (22 MRSA c. 252 §1322-E) in 2005. The bill was the outcome of an effort led by a coalition of environmental activists. It authorizes a fee of 25 cents per gallon on all paint sold in Maine. The fee is imposed on paint manufacturers or brand label owners. It provides a waiver for payment for those who sell low quantities. Revenue from the fees fluctuated between$700,000 and $800,000 in the initial years. Revenue decreased during the recession but is currently stable at around $650,000 annually.The Lead Poisoning Prevention Fund (LPPF) is administered with the help of an Advisory Board by the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Unit (CLPPU) within the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Resources from the LPPF are used to accelerate progress towards eliminating childhood lead poisoning in Maine through statewide and community-based activities that enable the public to identify lead hazards and take precautionary actions to prevent exposure to lead.
2018-10-29
SRI Education;
In 2017, the Barr Foundation launched Engage New England (ENE), a signature initiative that provides a unique opportunity for local education agencies and nonprofits to plan for and develop innovative schools designed to serve students off track to high school graduation. School design partner Springpoint is leading three cohorts of grantees through a three-phase planning year: Understand, Design, and Build. During the Understand phase, grantees conduct research to understand the needs of their student populations. In the Design phase, the grantees design a school model to meet those needs; planning to launch that model begins in the Build phase. The first cohort of grantees received planning year grants for the 2017–18 school year and included a combination of new schools and school redesigns. During the planning year, these grantees assembled teams to lead the design work, collected and analyzed data to learn about their current or potential students and community needs and capacities, articulated design priorities, and began to plan for the launch of the new or refined school model. SRI Education, the research partner for the ENE initiative, captured the learnings from the planning process through interviews, classroom observations, and student focus groups conducted during March and April 2018. The findings in this brief are based on the reflections of the school and design leaders and staff members involved in the design process as well as Springpoint staff members who supported the design process. This brief is designed to benefit all three cohorts of ENE grantees as they plan and build their schools and to highlight key elements of planning for innovative school models.
2017-12-05
Carsey School of Public Policy at The University of New Hampshire;
Hit hard by the national decline in natural-resource and manufacturing jobs, North Country communities in northern New Hampshire and bordering areas of Maine and Vermont (Figure 1) continue to face challenges in restructuring their economies. A 2008 study classified Coös County, New Hampshire, and Oxford County, Maine, as "amenity/decline" regions, a common pattern in rural America where historically resource-dependent places experience decline in their traditional industries, even while natural amenities present new opportunities for growth in areas such as tourism or amenity-based in-migration. Complicating this transition, there is often out-migration of young adults seeking jobs and financial stability elsewhere, as new industries in rural areas tend toward seasonal employment or require different kinds of skills. In this brief, we report on a 2017 survey that asked North Country residents about their perceptions, hopes, and concerns regarding this region. Many of the same questions had been asked on earlier surveys in 2007 and 2010, providing a unique comparative perspective on what has changed or stayed much the same.
2017-07-25
Carsey School of Public Policy at The University of New Hampshire;
Founded in 1965, Head Start is designed to promote "school readiness of children under 5 from low-income families through education, health, social, and other services." Created in 1994, Early Head Start focuses specifically on the youngest children—those under age 3, and pregnant women—and provides "early, continuous, intensive, and comprehensive child development and family support services to low-income infants and toddlers, and their families, and pregnant women and their families." The Administration for Children and Families, housed within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, oversees and administers all Head Start programs through the federal Office of Head Start.
2017-05-23
Carsey School of Public Policy at The University of New Hampshire;
Policy makers and advocates nationwide recognize that funding for early childhood education is a crucial investment in the future. Critical foundational development occurs before age 5, and research consistently shows that high-quality early education for children leads to higher future educational attainment and lower likelihood of crime, and yields a return on investment of 7 to 13 percent.
2016-11-01
Educate Maine;
Educate Maine recently released its annual report "Education Indicator For Maine 2016" which looks to explore Maine's entire education system beginning in early childhood and continuing throughout adulthood. The report found that while 88% of Maine's students graduated from high school, less than half of all students were at proficiency in reading and math by the 11th grade.
2016-10-01
International Association for K-12 Online Learning;
This paper explores K-12 competency-based education policy and practice across six New England states: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.
This paper explores the core concepts of competency education, detailing the limitations of the traditional system, and how competency education is designed explicitly for equity and student success. Author Chris Sturgis then dives into why and how the New England region embraces competency education. She provides insights into policy strategies being used across states and analyzes the impact of competency education on quality, equity, scaling and sustainability. The Appendix offers a synopsis of each state strategy, complemented by short case studies of a few districts and schools.
2016-09-01
Everytown For Gun Safety;
The state of Maine has a strong tradition of gun ownership. And Maine's gun owners know that responsible ownership includes keeping guns out of the wrong hands. That's why 93% of Americans—and the majority of Mainers, regardless of political party—agree: all gun buyers should pass a criminal background check.
It is illegal under both federal law and Maine law for certain dangerous people—like felons, domestic abusers, the dangerously mentally ill, and fugitives—to buy or possess guns. The federal background check system was created to enforce the prohibition on those dangerous people and block them from buying guns. And it works: since the background check system was implemented, it has blocked nearly three million gun sales across the country to people legally prohibited from having firearms, including at least 5,501 sales in Maine alone.
But there's a problem. Background check laws were written decades ago, and they only apply if you buy from gun dealers—and not if you buy from people without dealer licenses. That makes sense when you're selling to your brother or giving a gift to your daughter. But gun sales and transfers aren't just taking place between family or at gun dealers: when an unlicensed seller posts a classified ad selling a gun, anyone can respond–and can buy that gun with no background check, no questions asked.
2016-04-01
Nellie Mae Education Foundation;
In early 2015, the Nellie Mae Education Foundation (NMEF) contracted with the UMass Donahue Institute (UMDI) to conduct a qualitative study examining the implementation of student-centered learning (SCL) practices in select public high schools in New England. This study extends lines of inquiry explored through a prior (2014) project that UMDI conducted for NMEF. The 2014 study employed survey methodology to examine the prevalence of student-centered practices in public high schools across New England. The present study builds upon the investigation, using a variety of qualitative methods to further probe the richness and complexity of SCL approaches in use across the region. Specifically, this study was designed to address what student-centered practices "look like" in an array of contexts. The study also addresses the perceived impacts that SCL approaches have on students, staff, and schools. Additionally, it highlights the broad array of factors within and beyond school walls that reportedly foster and challenge the implementation of SCL practices. This study seeks to help NMEF understand the intricacies of SCL and provides strategic considerations for how Nellie Mae can promote the adoption and development of student-centered practices in the region.
Nellie Mae organizes student-centered learning by four tenets: (1) learning is personalized; (2) learning is competency-based; (3) learning takes place anytime, anywhere; and (4) students take ownership.
Specifically, the study addresses five research questions:
What are the characteristics of student-centered practices in relation to the four SCL tenets? How are SCL approaches implemented?
What are the salient contextual factors (e.g., systems, structures, policies, procedures) associated with the implementation of SCL practices? How do they support, impede, and otherwise shape the adoption, development, and implementation of SCL approaches?
How are schools with moderate and high levels of SCL implementation organized to foster SCL practices? What mechanisms are in place to promote student-centered learning?
What is the role of SCL approaches in schools and classrooms? In what ways, if at all, are they embedded in the goals and practices of schools and classrooms?
What is the quality of SCL instructional practices in study schools? What relationships, if any, do administrators and educators perceive between these approaches and student learning?
