Schools can be more than vibrant places for learning, they can also be year-round hubs
that connect families and communities to resources and services. This brief from the
National Human Services Assembly looks at schools that doing just that and outlines
what it would take to make school-linked services available in a greater number of
communities. For more great tools, check out the National Assembly's Family
Strengthening Center.

The AT&T Aspire Program is a $100 million initiative to address high school success and college and workforce readiness. The AT&T Aspire program includes four key components: grants to prepare students for college, job shadowing opportunities, researching the high school dropout issue and solutions, and supporting 100 community dropout-prevention summits.

On August 12th, 2008, the Center for American Progress presented, "College-Ready Students, Student-Ready Colleges: Enhancing Degree Completion Through Student Empowerment and Systems Change," an event focusing on the issues surrounding higher education. At the event, speakers discussed rising costs, the need for more federal involvement, and agreed on an overall need for change in higher education.

A Federal Agenda for Promoting Student Success and Degree Completion, co-authored and discussed at the event by speaker Josipa Roska.

College for All?
The Labor Market for College-Educated Workers written by speaker Paul Osterman.

This study examined whether having a Teach For America (TFA) teacher instead of a
non-TFA teacher affects the academic performance of high school students. The study
analyzed data from 23 North Carolina school districts that hired at least one TFA
teacher from 2000 to 2005. The sample included 69 TFA teachers.

As schools, districts, and state departments around the country grapple to prevent and
ameliorate the many barriers to effective learning and teaching, there is a growing need to transform policy and practice related to school improvement and personnel
development. In this context, a frequently asked question is:
How are pre-service preparation programs for teachers, support staff, and administrators focusing on addressing barriers to learning and teaching?
This new report is designed both to provide a general conceptual overview and a snapshot of practice considerations and concerns. It begins by reiterating the case for why it is essential to fundamentally and systemically transform how schools (working with families and communities) address barriers to learning and teaching. This is followed by a discussion of the general challenges confronting personnel development for education. Then, a synthesis is provided of findings gleaned from the Leadership Institute our Center conducted in June 2008 for representatives from university departments of education. Throughout, the report offers major implications for transforming personnel preparation for teachers, student support staff, administrators, and other stakeholders involved in addressing barriers to learning and teaching. The report is the kickoff for a higher education initiative by the National Initiative: New Directions for Student Support.

Save the Date! November 6-8, 2008 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The International Bullying Prevention Association is pleased to present our 5th Annual Conference: Best Practices in Bullying and Violence Prevention. The conference will be co-sponsored by the Indiana School Safety Specialist Academy and the Indiana Department of Education. The conference is designed for school guidance counselors, administrators, teachers, school health educators, school social workers, school psychologists, school safety specialists, Safe and Drug-Free Coordinators, school resource officers (SRO's), school attorneys, and law enforcement working with youth, student service directors,PTA/PTO members, children and family mental health counselors, school nurses, school board members, parents, extended day/after school staff, prevention specialists, etc. This conference also welcomes college students. Coming Soon: Session proposals, conference and hotel registration information will be posted at http://www.stopbullyingworld.org
and http://www.doe.in.us/isssa.

This national organization supports students capable of high intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership achievement—who often need services and activities not ordinarily provided by schools. They have toolkits, tips for teachers and parents and advocacy resources.

Lesson plans, teaching tips and toolkits for teachers – you’ll find these and more on the National Education Association’s teacher pages.

Released in 2008, this interactive chart and report from the Center for Law and Social Policy includes updated information on programs, participants, families, and staff for all Head Start programs in each state.

The National Education Association (NEA) says the federal education law faces "many policy flaws, false assumptions, unintended consequences, and botched implementation" and offers specific recommendations for fundamental changes to improve it.