research
Throughout our region, leaders are helping to inform us about the latest research and best practices in the field, nationally, statewide and locally. Their contributions are invaluable, and not only help to guide the work of practitioners and others in the field, but also provide information to the public about key youth initiatives and developments.
The Status of Latino Education in Massachusetts>
The Mauricio Gaston Institute for Latino Public Policy and Community Development at UMass Boston held a press conference and legislative briefing on Wednesday to release a report about the status of Latino education in Massachusetts. The Latino after-school initiative (LASI), which United Way launched in 2001, participated in the conference and is a state model of a supportive network of after-school programs serving Latino students. Read the report.
The Impact of After-School Programs That Promote Personal and Social Skills
A new report from the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) finds good outcomes from after-school programs that use evidence-based approaches to enhance personal and social skills. Outcomes included feelings of self-confidence, positive feelings toward school, grades and achievement test scores.
For more information, Read the report.
The Learning Season: The Untapped Power of Summer to Advance Student Achievement
Children from low income families are more likely to experience learning loss over the summer than other children, according to a recent report released by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation called The Learning Season: The Untapped Power of Summer to Advance Student Achievement. The report offers takes a close look at seasonal learning and examines the connection between a child’s summer learning experiences and success in school.
For more information, read the executive summary 
or the full report .
Helping Traumatized Children Learn
Published by Massachusetts Advocates for Children, Helping Traumatized Children Learn demonstrates how trauma from exposure to family and other forms of violence can help explain many educational difficulties teachers across the Commonwealth face everyday. The report provides a school-wide flexible framework and a public policy agenda for creating trauma-sensitive schools environments where traumatized children and their classmates can focus, behave and learn.
Massachusetts Afterschool Research Study (MARS)
The Massachusetts Afterschool Research Study, or MARS, uncovered the critical pathway to youths’ success—youth who are engaged in the learning process because of the efforts of well-trained staff are more likely to achieve positive outcomes. This research study—the largest of its kind in Massachusetts—examined afterschool programs serving elementary and middle school youth from ten communities across the Commonwealth including urban, suburban, and rural areas.
Read the executive summaryof the MARS report and the full report.
National Institute on Out of School Time
It’s a fact—Youth who participate in afterschool programs improve significantly in three major areas including: feelings and attitudes, increased indicators of behavior adjustment and increased school and achievement test scores, according to a fact sheet by the National Institute on Out of School Time.
To learn more facts, click here.
Are Boys Making the Grade? Gender Gaps in Achievement and Attainment
The Rennie Center for Education & Policy issued this policy brief, which examines the question “What differences in enrollment and achievement exist between males and females in Massachusetts public schools?” by analyzing MCAS achievement, dropout rates, special education placement and enrollment changes between grade levels in high school.
