programs

13Aug

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

FOR BUSINESS

Are Employee Ownership Programs The Future Of Corporate America?

(BPT) - It's no secret it's a job seekers market. Many people are open to new work and employers are vying to attract the best talent. This gives job seekers more options than ever to find positions where they'll get the best benefits and be happy long-term. While salary is a core component of an employment package, benefits are just as important. Forward-thinking CEOs are going beyond the basics of health insurance and retirement programs and offering truly meaningful benefits that have a major impact on employees. Employee ownership programs really stand out in attracting top talent, motivating current employees and boosting employee satisfaction. For instance, Integrity Marketing Group, a leading distributor of life and health insurance, and provider of innovative solutions for wealth...

Men Have Access To Significantly More Higher Education Programs In Texas Prisons Than Women

11May

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

EDUCATION, Journalism

Men Have Access To Significantly More Higher Education Programs In Texas Prisons Than Women

Alexa Garza has been out of prison for three years, but she still remembers how confining it felt. “I was surrounded by walls,” said Garza, who was incarcerated for two decades starting when she was 19. “I found that reading was an escape for me. I was able to read and learn and grow, and I knew that education was the key for me.” Already a high school graduate when she entered prison in Texas, Garza set out to obtain a higher education behind bars. That goal took the better part of her sentence to achieve. After a decade, she had earned two associate’s degrees. It took her five more years to earn a bachelor’s degree. Now a justice fellow for the national nonprofit Education Trust, which works toward education equity, Garza is raising awareness about the challenges of accessing post-seco...

Reducing School Absenteeism, Breakfast After The Bell Programs

3May

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

EDUCATION

Reducing School Absenteeism, Breakfast After The Bell Programs

The big idea Making a healthy breakfast available to students not only can help alleviate hunger and improve concentration at school; it also appears to encourage regular attendance, according to new research I co-authored. In a study published in February 2021, my co-author and I explored how the rollout of Breakfast After the Bell programs at high-poverty schools in Colorado and Nevada have been linked to reductions in the number of students who were chronically absent. The programs extend free morning meals to learners unable to get into school before classes start. Our study looked at levels of absenteeism in the last year before Breakfast After the Bell was introduced in the states – the 2013-2014 academic year – and two years after. In both states, high-poverty schools, where 70% o...

Choice Programs In The Best Schools Often Out Of Reach For Disadvantaged Students

5Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

EDUCATION

Choice Programs In The Best Schools Often Out Of Reach For Disadvantaged Students

The big idea Although school choice policies are often presented as a way to let families select the best schools for their children, my research found that few students using school choice can access high-achieving schools far from home. In my peer-reviewed study – recently published in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis – I examine who uses school choice and whether most families enroll their kids in schools with high test scores and graduation rates in Detroit. Ninety percent of Detroit students are economically disadvantaged. Thanks to state laws passed in the mid-1990s, Detroit students can attend charter schools, various Detroit public schools and schools in nearby districts. Over 30% attend Detroit charter schools and 20% attend schools outside Detroit. The schools that ar...

It All Depends On How The Program Is Designed, But Free College Programs Can Enable More Students To Go To College

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IN OTHER NEWS

It All Depends On How The Program Is Designed, But Free College Programs Can Enable More Students To Go To College

The big idea Free college programs are emerging across the United States as potential mechanisms to improve college enrollment and affordability. Our research examines how the design of these programs influences their effectiveness. We argue that effectiveness depends on the answers to two questions. First, does it help more students attend and complete college? Second, how do the outcomes of the program compare with the resources invested? Free college programs are sponsored by states, private donors and individual colleges. Some programs offer free tuition to attend a choice of colleges and universities, while others provide free tuition to attend a particular school. Programs may be available to students in a particular state, as is the case with the Oregon Promise, or a specific commu...

COVID-19 is laying waste to many US recycling programs

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, HEALTH & WELLNESS

COVID-19 is laying waste to many US recycling programs

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the U.S. recycling industry. Waste sources, quantities and destinations are all in flux, and shutdowns have devastated an industry that was already struggling. Many items designated as reusable, communal or secondhand have been temporarily barred to minimize person-to-person exposure. This is producing higher volumes of waste. Grocers, whether by state decree or on their own, have brought back single-use plastic bags. Even IKEA has suspended use of its signature yellow reusable in-store bags. Plastic industry lobbyists have also pushed to eliminate plastic bag bans altogether, claiming that reusable bags pose a public health risk. As researchers interested in industrial ecology and new schemes for polymer recycling, we are concerned about challenges f...

Why It’s Unclear Whether Private Programs For ‘Troubled Teens’ Are Working

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIETY

Why It’s Unclear Whether Private Programs For ‘Troubled Teens’ Are Working

I first became interested in what I’ve learned is called the “troubled teen industry” more than 20 years ago, when my parents sent me away to a program they thought would help me finish high school. At that point I was skipping a lot of school and running away. Simply put, I was seeking emancipation, community and safety – albeit in a headstrong way. The troubled teen industry is a mostly unregulated collection of for-profit programs that claim to rehabilitate out-of-control youth. Between 50,000 and 100,000 adolescents currently spend at least part of the year in these facilities. Their enrollment – or confinement, depending on the arrangement or their perspective – can prevent these relatively privileged kids from joining the 48,000 youth caught in the U.S. juvenile justice system. I’m...

27Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

Hands-On Prison Programs Are Dying

Did you ever wonder why the U.S. Department of Corrections does not try to rehabilitate or alter the criminal behavior of inmates? No. Oh... are you aware that in the U.S. Inmates who participate in correctional education programs have 43% lower odds of returning to prison than those who do not. When inmates return home un-rehabilitated guess who really suffers? That's right we do- families, schools, hospitals, and whole communities. Recent budget cuts have reduced spending on vocational training and prisoner re-entry programs and inmates are less likely to get out and stay out as a result. It seem like the system doesn't truly want inmates to succeed as free and productive citizens. Why would it, when each inmate- according to the 13th amendment- is expected to work as an employee of the...