Listening to developer Richard Baron, Chairman and CEO, McCormack Baron Salazar, talk about the neighborhood transformations that he is managing and the comprehensive services he is coordinating for residents, while agencies continue to do what they have always done [working independently rather than together].  “We make very poor use of… more

"The Obama Effect" is what researchers are calling it.  The performance gap between African-Americans and whites on a 20-question test administered before Obama's nomination disappeared in tests given after Obama's acceptance speech and again after the presidential election.  Apparently, the model set by the president helped blacks overcome stereotypes that… more

CABE and English Heritage have collaborated to release a new site that helps teachers “exploit the world’s biggest teaching resource” by providing resources, suggestions and information on learning “through the whole built environment, from grand historic buildings to the streets and neighbourhoods where we live”.  It also connects… more

From Tom Friedman's column Sunday:  "... a bridge is just a bridge. Once it’s up, it stops stimulating. A student who normally would not be interested in science but gets stimulated by a better teacher or more exposure to a lab, or a scientist who gets the funding for… more

Here's one organization that believes the glass is half full.  Knowledge Works Foundation, in its first email of the year, took note of the ways in which the economy will change over the next ten years.  "The news is good," KWF concluded.  "Though we are facing a recession and volatility… more

Beginning this month, a local Cleveland grassroots think tank wil run a social marketing campaign to convince kids -- specifically black boys 10-13 years old -- that education pays.

PolicyBridge, the group responsible for the campaign, says its goal is to supplant the anti-education and other negative… more

Today I had a chance to speak to a couple of people at TeachNola, the New Teacher Project in New Orleans whose job it is to recruit seasoned people -- not necessarily those with teacing background -- to the city post-Katrina.  Clearly, it is the strong sense of… more

Michelle Rhee, Washington D.C.'s new education chief, is profiled in this month's Fast Company.  In a school district that spends $17,000+ per pupil gets some of the nation's worst results, and Rhee is determined to change that.  She has managed to downsize the central office significantly, fire multiple principals,… more

New research by MDRC shows that students who graduate from career academy high schools had significantly higher employment and earnings (11%)  than similar students eight years later.  The difference, researchers believe, may be the fact that students see what real work is like and build a network of… more

The House Appropriations Committee has released information on the proposed economic stimulus package that has the following as its focus:

• Clean, Efficient, American Energy
• Transforming our Economy with Science and Technology
• Modernizing Roads, Bridges, Transit and Waterways
• Education for the 21st Century
• Tax Cuts to Make Work Pay and… more

There has long been an implied social contract in the United States promising that if people work hard they will be able to earn enough to support their families. Increasingly, that contract is broken. As the number of low-wage jobs continues to grow, urban leaders must confront the social cost… more

The future of cities depends on better schools. Acknowledging the now vast array of worthwhile school improvement efforts, a growing number among school reformers say that while committed to public education, they no longer believe that mandating performance change within the same system will prove sufficient.

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Despite nearly two decades of well-publicized efforts, many young people a majority in whole sectors of some big cities are unprepared.

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As enduring components in a community, our nation's urban colleges and universities should be viewed as key institutions in urban economies and economic revitalization... Read the full study here.

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In the knowledge economy, human capital is a critical component of economic growth. The American population is becoming more educated, but some cities' populations are becoming educated at a faster rate than others...

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