Community Partnerships

While research has identified a number of effective suicide prevention strategies, many have not been put into practice. Through this project, EDC will create toolkits with easy-to-use educational materials and interactive resources that will also focus on institutional and personal barriers that prevent suicide from being addressed in each setting, and provide motivation to create more positive environments.

Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) and the Bloustein School of Planning & Public Policy at Rutgers University are conducting a study of the impact of pre-K expansion on child care for low-income families. The expansion of state-funded universal pre-K raises questions about the impact of such trends on the quality and supply of child care for low-income families. For our three-year investigation we will conduct a longitudinal investigation using a natural experiment to identify changes in child care access and quality for low-income, working families in New York and Ohio.

Building Collaboration for Mental Health Services in California Schools is an initiative funded by the California Department of Education through California’s Mental Health Services Act. This project aims to engage mental health and education professionals in an effective planning process to prepare for implementing California’s Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) in schools.

The Tribal Youth Program (TYP) Training and Technical Assistance (T/TA) Center addresses the need to strengthen American Indian and Alaska Native juvenile justice and other systems–education, mental health and social services, culture, recreation and employment programs–all critical to Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s mission of reducing juvenile delinquency, violence, child victimization, and increasing the safety of tribal communities.

In the four-year ICARE Schools study, EDC is identifying and documenting middle-grades schools that use innovative approaches to engage all families in the education of students with disabilities, particularly the creation and implementation of students’ Individual Education Plans (IEPs). After a systematic nomination, application, and review process, researchers selected three middle-grades schools that demonstrate successful parent involvement and positive outcomes for students with disabilities.

Celebrated annually during the first full week of December, National Inclusive Schools Week highlights and celebrates the progress of the nation’s schools in providing a supportive and quality education to an increasingly diverse student population, particularly those with disabilities.

SmART Schools uses the arts as a core academic subject in the regular school curriculum and strengthens the use of high-quality arts in other academic subjects. This grant allows FSC to expand and enhance the standards-based, whole-school change SmART Schools model in diverse, high-need settings; refine the model’s tools, materials, techniques, and processes so that they are adaptable to various contexts; conduct a rigorous third-party evaluation of the program; and strengthen dissemination efforts so that the model can be replicated throughout the U.S.