Who You Know: Relationships, Networks and Social Capital in Boosting Educational Opportunity for Young Americans

Writing for Brookings, Reeves and Deng explore the importance of social capital  for promoting educational opportunities and outcomes. The main messages of the paper are as follows: Social capital = relationships that uplift. Social capital is described, defined and measured in a wide variety of different ways. But there is Read more

3 Lessons from Schools Where COVID Innovations Offer New Solutions

Recently in The 74, representatives from three philanthropic organizations supporting public education shared their perspective on COVID innovations worth supporting. Excerpts from their piece appear below: The Canopy Project tracked how hundreds of schools across the country adapted and innovated last year in student-centered ways. The following adaptations these schools Read more

Advancing Equitable Access To And Success In Work-Based Learning

The economic and societal instability brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic compounded and laid bare the inequities in American education and workforce systems. It also forced policymakers to go to extraordinary lengths to ensure that programs remained accessible.  Amid these unprecedented challenges, the states in the National Governors Association Center’s Read more

Issue Brief: Learning Pathways

Career-connected learning pathways – including internships, apprenticeships, and cooperative education programs – allow students to gain work experience while in high school. Through these programs, young people can develop employability and technical skills that can help them succeed beyond high school, including through building positive relationships with adults, developing social Read more

Working to Learn and Learning to Work: A State-by-State Analysis of High School Work-based Learning Policies

Bellwether Education Partners has released a new policy scan titled, “Working to Learning and Learning to Work: A State-by-State Analysis of High School Work-based Learning Policies.” Excerpts from the report appear below:  Work-based learning – including internships, youth and pre-apprenticeships, and cooperative education programs – allows students to gain work Read more

Students’ Internships Are Disappearing. Can Virtual Models Replace Them?

Writing for The Chronicle of Higher Education, Goldie Blumenstyk reviews opportunities for virtual internships to replace internships lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Excerpts of the piece appear below: Employers themselves and new facilitators are stepping up to create alternative virtual internships, in some cases working closely with colleges to Read more