Research and Evaluation

EDC is examining developmental pathways of violence perpetration among African-American and Latino young adults who grew up in severely distressed neighborhoods of the inner city and are now parents. About 1000 participants in the decade-long Reach for Health Longitudinal Study have been successfully tracked from middle school into their early twenties, a time when many have become parents. The information they have provided is being analyzed to address the questions: How do past experiences with violence shape parenting attitudes and practices as well as ongoing involvement in violence?

EDC will evaluate Adobe Systems Incorporated’s new signature initiative, Adobe Youth Voices (AYV), an international youth media making effort. Adobe and their program partners are training educators in five cities to lead youth media projects. The evaluation team will coordinate on-going evaluation to document the successes and challenges in implementing the initiative; and measure AYF effectiveness in meeting intended outcomes for teachers and students.

EQuALLS2 is an EQUIP3 associate award that aims to increase access to quality education and livelihood skills in areas affected by conflict and poverty in the Philippines. With specific emphasis on the Muslim areas of Mindanao, the EQuALLS2 project targets schools, barangays (barrios), and municipalities to strengthen formal and alternative education and reintegrate out-of-school youth into the economy.

The Social Legacy Program (SLP) reaches out to youth and other vulnerable groups in the Europe and Eurasia region, giving them the tools they need to become local leaders and promote social change. Due to widespread socio-economic insecurity and a dramatic collapse in basic social services, these groups face great barriers to finding work and gaining viable skills, while the region on the whole struggles to make the transition towards market-oriented, democratic societies.

The Center helps college and community leaders develop, implement, and evaluate programs and policies to reduce student problems related to alcohol and other drug use and interpersonal violence. In order to produce enduring, large-scale changes that will make students’ social and cultural environment healthier and safer, the Center supports a comprehensive approach to prevention, grounded in environmental management strategies that address the institutional, community, and public policy factors related to these problems.

The Urban Special Education Leadership Collaborative is a network of special and general education leaders working together to improve outcomes for students with disabilities in the nation’s urban schools. The Collaborative provides opportunities for these professionals to share research, information, and ideas about what works and why in urban school districts. The Collaborative accomplishes its leadership development mission by providing training, personalized technical assistance, policy sharing, and distance-learning opportunities.

The Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) enhances the nation’s mental health infrastructure by providing states, government agencies, private organizations, colleges and universities, and suicide survivor and mental health consumer groups with access to the science and experience that can support their efforts to develop programs, implement interventions, and promote policies to prevent suicide.

EDC is conducting an effectiveness study of a parent education program to reduce early sexual initiation and alcohol use among young adolescent girls, funded by the National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the Office for Research on Women at NIH. With extensive community input, the researchers developed a set of audio-CDs, Especially for Daughters, which is targeted to African American and Latino families.

EDC’s Gender, Diversities, and Technology Institute works at the intersection of gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, disability, culture, and sexual orientation seeking to understand how technology can support the development of democracy and human rights. Projects focus on increasing participation in and distributing ownership of the “new knowledge society” brought about by emerging technologies.

dot-EDU was an information and communication technology (ICT) intervention mechanism for USAID Missions seeking to improve education systems in their respective countries. dot-EDU sought to assist developing countries in strengthening learning systems that improve quality, expand access, and enhance equity through carefully planned applications of digital and broadcast technologies. The dot-EDU mission had two foci. First, dot-EDU provided training and technical assistance to support USAID Missions in developing and implementing technology-assisted applications.