Higher Education

This program supports a comprehensive statewide initiative to strengthen college alcohol and other drug prevention efforts in Pennsylvania. The project provides training and technical assistance to campus and community coalitions at Pennsylvania public and private colleges, with the goals of limiting alcohol sales to minors, eliminating irresponsible marketing practices by alcohol sellers, and increasing enforcement of campus policy and community laws.

ERO is working with the Death Penalty Information Center to develop a set of case studies for use in college courses to explore issues surrounding the public debate over the death penalty. The materials will include teaching cases designed to promote discussion, accompanying teaching notes, guidelines for investigating relevant data, and bibliographic resources. In Phase I, ERO will create a prototype case and develop a concept paper to seek funding for a full-scale project.

CCHS will provide consultation and training to build the capacity of the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus and community to implement effective early intervention strategies to reduce high-risk alcohol use by students. The purpose of project activities is to build a widening “net”—to design and implement a campus wide infrastructure, linked with community services—to increase the opportunities to identify, screen, and refer students in need of an intervention.

This 18 month project is funded to conduct a national evaluation study of university- school district relationships in providing high quality preparation programs for urban school principals. The research aims to determine the range and quality of relationships that exist between districts and universities and the degree to which these relationships contribute to quality principal preparation. The study draws on theory and research on high quality leadership preparation programs, inter-organizational collaboration, district-university partnerships and coupling theory as guiding frameworks.

The College Tobacco Prevention Resource is a Web site that provides practical information, ideas, and guidance to college leaders involved with tobacco prevention. The site describes a comprehensive approach to prevention that combines traditional education and cessation programs with efforts to create a physical, social, and policy environment that supports tobacco-free campuses. The goal of the site is to provide resources to assist with the planning, implementation, and evaluation of effective campus tobacco policies and programs.

The PALMS project seeks to increase the number of Latino students who pursue education beyond high school. Through high-quality materials, such as Tools for Latino Family Outreach: Supporting Student Success in the Middle Grades and Beyond, the project equips school and community leaders to work effectively with Latino families and students. In September 2006, PALMS began working with Helen Tyson Middle School (Springdale, Arkansas) and Hommocks Middle School (Larchmont, NY) to document how leaders at these schools use the tools to develop replicable parental outreach models.

The WEEA Equity Resource Center was a national center that for 25 years promoted gender-equitable education for all students. The center offered educators and others a range of resources to help make gender equity a reality in the classroom and in educational systems, focusing especially on equity for girls and women who face multiple barriers due to gender and race, ethnic origin, disability, or age. The center’s funding ended in 2003 and select resources and information continue to be available through the achieved Web site.

The objective of Boston University’s PROMYS program is to engage high school students and their teachers in rich mathematical explorations. The academic-year component of PROMYS, run by EDC, aims to ensure that teachers who participate in the summer program will transfer its culture of mathematical exploration to their schools.

Focus on Mathematics increases student achievement and teacher quality by providing teachers with solid content-based professional development, students with rigorous courses and curricula, and by establishing a mathematical community in which mathematicians and pre-college educators work together to improve mathematics education in grades 5 through 12. This project is a National Science Foundation Targeted Math and Science Partnership.