School-Community Partnerships

Supported Literacy for Adolescents is a research-based literacy program developed over 10 years by EDC, with funding from the U.S. Department of Education (Office of Special education Programs and Institute of Educational Sciences), Annenberg Foundation, and MetLife Foundation. Its goal is to improve reading, writing, and comprehension among both high risk and typically achieving populations. It is deeply rooted in standards-based curriculum design, and all components of the program are aligned with national reading and writing standards, as well as selected content standards.

In the 1990s, EDC’s Center for Educational Resources and Outreach (ERO) developed an interdisciplinary curriculum for elementary and middle school students, for the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). The curriculum activities are a key part of SAE’s A World In Motion® (AWIM) curriculum that joins together teachers, students, and industry volunteers in an exploration of physical science while addressing essential mathematic and scientific concepts and skills.

Literacy and Community Empowerment Program (LCEP) is an integrated community development initiative that includes components in literacy, capacity building for income generation, and local governance in Afghanistan. Within the literacy component of LCEP, EDC is responsible for two interrelated subcomponents: the establishment and ongoing development of a Women’s Teacher Training Institute in Kabul and the implementation of the Afghan Literacy Initiative.

Education Development Center (EDC) and its partners, RTI International (RTI) and WorldLinks Arab Region (WLAR), have received funding from USAID to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the education reform initiative the Jordan Education Initiative (JEI). The JEI is public-private partnership to use e-learning and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as a tool to help transform the quality of teaching and learning in Jordanian schools.

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.

ATLAS Communities is now an independent organization based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Visit the ATLAS Communities Web site for current contact information.

ScienceQuest was a unique after-school program that supported community-based organizations who wanted to increase staff and organizational capacity; assisted youth (ages 10–14) in learning science, technology, and literacy; and increased the youths’ positive experiences with learning. Through training in I-Search methods and ongoing in-person and electronic support, coaches lead small groups in personally relevant explorations documented through youth-designed Web sites.

The purpose of this project is to identify and document implementation issues experienced by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration community and school grantees who received support to implement and evaluate youth violence prevention efforts.