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E-Newsletter, December 2008

New at the
Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University


image Panel Responds to RI Urban School Challenges
The Rhode Island Urban Education Task Force, convened by Governor Donald Carcieri and chaired by the Annenberg Institute’s executive director, Warren Simmons, has developed a set of preliminary recommendations for improving educational opportunities for students in Rhode Island’s five core urban school districts. Based on a year of research and deliberation by the 32-member Task Force of educators, public officials, and community leaders, the seven recommendations include the creation of an innovation zone, a focus on early literacy, expanding access to pre-kindergarten, and multiple pathways for at-risk youth. Over the next six months, the Task Force will invite community feedback and continue to study practices in other sites to further refine their recommendations for final presentation to the Governor and the legislature in June 2009.

> More information, news coverage, district profiles




image Spotlighting a “Smart” System: London’s Tower Hamlets
The Annenberg Institute believes that improving outcomes for children and youth requires schools to form links with community agencies and organizations to address a range of in-school and out-of-school factors that affect learning and development — what we call a “smart education system.” In England, it is national policy. The Fall 2008 issue of Voices in Urban Education looks in depth at one local British authority — the East London borough of Tower Hamlets — that has been remarkably successful across a range of health, social, educational, and economic indicators. Governmental authorities, community and nonprofit organizations, religious institutions, and parents within this diverse neighborhood work in partnership to improve outcomes for children and youth.

> Articles by Robert Rothman; David Bell; Kevan Collins; Helen Jenner; Glenys Tolley; Sir Alasdair Macdonald; Janice M. Hirota, Robert L. Hughes, and Ronald Chaluisan.

> VUE 21 articles, excerpts, resources, author bios




image Improving Data Collection on Homeless Students
At the request of the New York State Education Department, Annenberg Institute Principal Associate Carol Ascher conducted a study on the barriers to identifying homeless students in local districts and how these barriers might be surmounted. The final report provides specific recommendations to strengthen the accuracy and efficiency of New York State’s data-collection system in order to provide a more realistic understanding of student homelessness and better serve homeless students across New York.

> Download Report [PDF: 26 pages]




In-School vs. Out-of-School Time: A False Debate
There's a growing debate in education policy circles about the relative importance of in-school time and out-of-school time. The Institute’s Senior Editor Robert Rothman characterizes three key voices in the debate, on the Blog of Harvard Education Publishing, and points out that many schools that successfully serve low-income students make a point of extending the traditional learning day by linking with out-of-school opportunities. Citing the similarity of this approach to the Institute’s idea of a “smart education system,” outlined in City Schools: How Districts and Communities Can Create Smart Education Systems (HEP, 2007), Rothman asks readers to share their thoughts about how such an inside/outside system might work.

> Read the blog entry and offer your comments




image Meta-review of Reports on Providence Public Schools
The Annenberg Institute is working with the new Providence school superintendent, Tom Brady, to facilitate his development of an action plan to move the district forward. To begin a conversation with key local stakeholders about how they might help the district meet its challenges, Superintendent Brady asked the Institute to review eleven recent reports on the school district and suggest areas of need. The Institute’s report formed the backdrop to the initial conversation on October 1; a follow-up conversation is planned for January.

> Download report [PDF: 16 pages]
> More information


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