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| Education |
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An increasing number of school districts are turning disruptive snow days into productive “e-learning days.” Schools in at least five states — Ohio, Illinois, West Virginia, Indiana and Pennsylvania — have created varied lesson plans where teachers post readings, videos, and worksheets online for students to complete independently. Teachers also check their e-mail to provide instant feedback under some program designs. While only small numbers of school districts have such policies in place, the number is expected to grow as online learning becomes more prevalent and because parents and teachers are loathe to lose summer vacation days in order to make up snow days.
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| Corrections, Probation & Parole |
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Prisons across the country are modernizing their educational and training offerings to prepare inmates for successful reentry into society. In Washington State, the Clallam Bay Corrections Center and Olympic Corrections Center are partnering with a local community college to offer courses to inmates in baking, computer game design and development, green-building carpentry, horticulture, and small business entrepreneurship. Prisoners can also take online courses from universities such as MIT, Harvard, and Berkeley. Programs designed to equip tomorrow’s jobseekers are helping to reduce recidivism rates and increase employment.
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| Health & Social Services |
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Massachusetts is training hairstylists and beauticians to observe their clients for indicators of abuse and to encourage them to seek help. The “Cut It Out” program, run by the office of the Middlesex District Attorney, has trained hundreds of women in the beauty industry to use their rapport with their clients to provide support and suggest referrals to community service providers when needed. Professionals are trained to look for physical distress signs such as lumps, missing or damaged hair, red marks or bruising on the neck, as well as behavioral signs such as missed appointments, nervousness, or anxiety. The program, which has expanded from vocational schools since its launch in 2009 to private salons and beauty schools, is modeled after a similar program in Alabama.
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| Preschool Education |
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States are studying New Jersey’s model of free, full-day pre-kindergarten for children in low-income districts. In New Jersey, students attend pre-kindergarten for two years instead of one, teachers have more training and certification and are paid more, and class sizes are limited to 15. While a difference of opinion exists about the long-term benefits of pre-kindergarten, the New Jersey programs have achieved positive results. New York, Maryland, Texas, and Washington are considering expansions of their own pre-kindergarten programs.
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| Policing & Crime Prevention |
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To deter thefts from undocumented workers who are often afraid to call law enforcement, officers in Prince George’s County, Maryland, are teaming up with banks and advocacy groups to help these persons open bank accounts. Undocumented workers, reluctant to leave money at home where they may share quarters with many other people, often carry their day’s or week’s wages around with them and are therefore targeted by criminals. Community leaders hope that ensuring money is in a safe place will protect these residents, regardless of their legal status.
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| Civic Engagement |
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In California, a state lawmaker is crowdsourcing a piece of legislation. Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles) has created an online wiki for members of the public to assist him in drafting an amendment to the state probate code. The assemblyman argues that this approach makes the legislative process fully transparent from conception to bill introduction, and that probate is the right subject to begin this experiment since it is an area of law with which many people have had experience. The final version of the crowdsourced bill is scheduled to be introduced in late February.
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| How a Transit Workers' Pension Plan Jumped the Tracks |
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The transit union in Denver blames privatization for its retirement fund's troubles, but the causes are familiar ones that run deeper. If public employees want to retain traditional defined-benefit pensions, they must make the contribution and benefit changes needed to make those plans sustainable.
Newsletter produced by: Jessica Engelman, editor; Brendan St. Amant, researcher and writer.
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About the Ash Center
The Roy and Lila Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation advances excellence in governance and strengthens democratic institutions worldwide. Through its research, education, international programs, and government innovations awards, the Center fosters creative and effective problem solving and serves as a catalyst for addressing many of the most pressing needs of the world's citizens. The Ford Foundation is a founding donor of the Center. Additional information about the Ash Center is available at http://ash.harvard.edu.
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