ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Reforming Head Start: What &quot;Re-Competition&quot; Means for the Federal Government's Pre-K Program. Issue Brief
Author: Severns, Maggie
Date: 2012-12-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Federal Government,Federal Programs,Early Childhood Education,Disadvantaged Youth,Low Income,Preschool Children,School Readiness,Early Intervention,Competition,Grants,Program Evaluation,Program Effectiveness

Head Start, the federal government's pre-K program, is at a crossroads. The program has been used as an anti-poverty measure by the government for over 45 years. It has grown significantly since its inception and provided many children with a valuable, high-quality early education, and in FY2012 served more than 960,000 children under 5 on a $7.9 billion budget. Yet Head Start is a complicated, bureaucratic program that suffers from a mixed record of research studies that call into question whether it creates any long-term academic gains among children. On top of annual budget threats, the program is vulnerable to additional cuts that would come with across-the-board reductions in federal spending, known as &quot;sequestration,&quot; scheduled for January 2nd, 2013. In the midst of these challenges, Head Start has embarked on its largest reforms in decades to improve the quality of its grantees. The reform process, called &quot;re-competition,&quot; forces Head Start providers that are found during audits to be low-quality to compete with other agencies in the same geographic area for future Head Start grants. If successful, re-competition could make Head Start more effective by making its providers truly accountable for the education, health, and family services they provide for the first time. This brief provides a broader view of re-competition set in the context of Head Start's history and limitations. Before now, much of this information has not been available for public viewing, nor has it existed succinctly in one place for policymakers and the public to digest. The aim is to lay out, in plain terms, how Head Start re-competition works and what questions it raises for the future of the program and the prospects of building a higher-quality, more coordinated system of publicly funded early learning programs. (Contains 39 notes.)
Overcoming Obstacles to College Attendance and Degree Completion: Toward a Pro-College Savings Agenda. Asset Building Program
Author: Black, Rachel
Date: 2012-03-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: College Attendance,Income,Paying for College,Costs,Debt (Financial),Graduation Rate,Loan Repayment,Student Loan Programs,Cost Effectiveness,Salary Wage Differentials,Educational Benefits,Postsecondary Education,Barriers,Performance Factors,Articulation (Education),Student Costs,Access to Education,Expenditure per Student,Outcomes of Education

The rise in student loan debt has directed critical attention to the growing pace of college costs as well as the reliance on loans to finance those costs. For graduates entering the workforce in recent years, many are finding that they are unable to find the type of job they thought they were securing when they received their degree, if they are able to find a job at all. Consequently, more loans are going unpaid and student loan debt has become the only class of consumer debt where defaults are increasing. While debt is a clear indicator of the flaws in the current way that postsecondary education is financed, a less visible consequence is the number of students who never make it to college because they perceive it as financially out of reach or the attrition of students who cannot afford to persist. Students need a way to finance college that helps them build the expectation that college is an attainable goal and the resources to make it a reality without compromising their future financial well-being. This paper will examine current trends in college cost and college financing, the role of savings in increasing postsecondary access and completion, and present a framework for developing a pro-college savings agenda and specific policy recommendations to overcome obstacles currently faces by low-income students. (Contains 1 table, 73 footnotes and 52 endnotes.)
Universities as Hubs for Next-Generation Networks: A Model for Universities to Spur 21st Century Internet Access and Innovation in Their Communities
Author: Lennett, Benjamin
Date: 2012-04-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Universities,Role,Futures (of Society),Internet,Telecommunications,Information Technology,Information Networks,Models,School Community Relationship,Community Development,Change Agents,Innovation,Stakeholders,Neighborhoods,Expertise,Shared Resources and Services,Barriers,State Regulation

Based on a request for information (RFI) submitted to The University Community Next Generation Innovation Project (Gig.U), the paper describes a model for universities to develop next generation broadband infrastructure in their communities. In the our view universities can play a critical role in spurring next generation networks into their communities through use of their physical infrastructure to extend high-speed Internet access and sharing their expertise and resources to support engagement and participation by community members, businesses, and institutions. We propose a network model that integrates both high-capacity fiber deployments to community anchor institutions along with community-driven wireless mesh deployments, a device-as-infrastructure network architecture that operates using commonly available WiFi equipment, to create connectivity for local neighborhoods. The model enables universities and communities to (1) provide affordable, scalable broadband access to end-users; 2) empower and engage community members through a collaborative deployment process; and 3) create a sustainable ecosystem of connectivity to further drive community development. In addition to expanding next-generation high-speed Internet access, the model allows for the creation of a community-wide intranet to develop local applications and serve as a platform for community data collection and research to better understand challenges relating to mobility, health, safety, urban management, and education. The paper also provides recommendations for universities to engage and identify local stakeholders and needs, build and finance network infrastructure, and for engaging community members in the build-out of wireless mesh networks. (Contains 4 figures and 2 footnotes.)
Counting Kids and Tracking Funds in Pre-K and Kindergarten: Falling Short at the Local Level. Issue Brief
Author: Guernsey, Lisa
Date: 2012-09-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Kindergarten,Data Collection,Access to Information,School Districts,Young Children,Federal Aid,Public Support,State Aid,Budgets,Enrollment

Researchers and policy analysts have documented the challenges in collecting pre-K and other early childhood data, and reports on disparities in full-day kindergarten from the Education Commission of the States and the Children's Defense Fund place the disorganized state of kindergarten data on full display. But in both cases, organizations have focused on data at the state level. In this issue brief, the authors turn to an arguably knottier problem: the dearth of reliable, complete, and comparable data on pre-K and kindergarten in school districts and local communities. As the Federal Education Budget Project expands to include data on publicly funded pre-K, the extent of the problem has come into greater focus (see "Including Pre-K Data in FEBP"). New questions about kindergarten data have surfaced as well. This brief pinpoints problems of incomplete data at the local level and explains why, in many cases, the data that do exist cannot be accurately compared to data in other districts or states. It ends with a discussion of steps that states, districts, and policymakers should take to repair these holes and ensure that PreK-12 policymakers and the public have a well-informed view of the state of pre-K and kindergarten in their states and localities. (Contains 13 notes.)
Starting Early with English Language Learners: First Lessons from Illinois
Author: Severns, Maggie
Date: 2012-04-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Demography,Immigrants,Children,Spanish,English (Second Language),English Language Learners,State Programs,Second Language Learning,Language Skills,Preschool Education,Kindergarten,Elementary Secondary Education

In recent years, a boom in immigration and high birth rates among the foreign-born population has led to significant growth in the number of children in the United States who speak a language other than English at home. This demographic change presents a challenge to the public school system, where English proficiency is central to a child's success. The vast majority of these children are legal citizens, yet as a nation, we have yet to determine how to meet this challenge. State education leaders in Illinois have first-hand experience with these challenges as the immigrant population in the state has grown in recent decades, and has spread to suburban and rural areas where many schools aren't yet accustomed to serving students who are not proficient in English. Illinois is one of the first states to try to tackle this problem as early as possible--before children enroll in kindergarten. While most state programs for ELL students begin when a child is enrolled in kindergarten or first grade, Illinois is in the process of extending its ELL program into state-funded pre-K programs. This will affect a sizeable portion of children in the state-funded Preschool for All program. Recent data shows that 34.2 percent of Preschool for All graduates in Chicago and 13.1 percent of Preschool for All graduates outside Chicago receive bilingual services when they moved on to kindergarten. The change will, the state hopes, create more continuity between pre-K and the early grades of school when students are developing crucial language skills, and reduce remediation for students in later grades by building important language skills early on. This paper takes a deep look at how the state came to see a need for these policies and how it is implementing them on a large scale. It also highlights two parts of Illinois's approach that merit consideration by other states with large or growing ELL populations. First, by expanding into pre-K, the state has created opportunities to align ELL programs across the early school years, opening the possibilities for districts to adopt a PreK-3rd approach. A glossary is included. (Contains 57 notes.)
Key Questions on the Obama Administration's 2013 Education Budget Request: Federal Education Budget Project. Issue Brief
Author: New America Foundation
Date: 2012-02-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Presidents,Federal Government,Budgets,Education,Federal Programs,Federal Aid,Student Loan Programs,Resource Allocation

President Barack Obama submitted his third budget request to Congress on February 13th, 2012. The budget request includes proposed funding levels for all federal programs and agencies in aggregate for the upcoming 10 fiscal years, and specific fiscal year 2013 funding levels for programs subject to the annual appropriations process. It is important to remember that the president's budget request is a policy and budget proposal, but not legislation or law. Actual fiscal year 2013 funding levels for nearly all federal education programs will be determined through the congressional appropriations process that Congress aims to complete by the start of the new fiscal year, which begins October 1st, 2012. Policy changes and funding levels that the president proposes for education programs not funded through appropriations process (i.e. mandatory programs) are also subject to congressional approval. In an effort to heighten the quality of debate on federal education policy, the New America Foundation's Federal Education Budget Project has reviewed the president's proposals and generated a list of key questions policymakers, the media, stakeholder groups, and the public should ask about the proposals.
University of Colorado at Boulder: Energy and Climate Revolving Fund. Green Revolving Funds in Action: Case Study Series
Author: Caine, Rebecca
Date: 2012-01-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Educational Finance,Sustainability,Student Government,Financial Support,Investment,Energy Conservation,Colleges,Campuses,Costs,Budgets,Climate,Energy Management,Energy,Grants

The University of Colorado at Boulder's student run Environmental Center leads the campus' sustainability efforts. The Center created the Energy and Climate Revolving Fund (ECRF) in 2007 to finance energy-efficiency upgrades. The ECRF functions as a source of funding for project loans and provides a method of financing projects that seeks to save the university money through reduced utility bills. The fund is primarily used in buildings that are managed by the student government, each of which has its own facility manager and budget. Once a facility has paid back the loan to ECRF, the subsequent savings on utility bills remains in that facility's budget, with the amount of money that is returned to the fund determined by the projected cost savings. As of 2010, the ECRF has been used to finance over 80 efficiency measures in three buildings and has provided a total of $379,600 toward projects that will decrease the university's greenhouse gas emissions. (Contains 9 endnotes.) [Contributions to writing was provided by Nathaniel Herz. Additional funding for this case study was provided by the David Rockefeller Fund, HOK, John Merck Fund, Merck Family Fund, Roy A. Hunt Foundation, U.S. EPA Green Power Partnership and Wallace Global Fund.]
California Institute of Technology: Caltech Energy Conservation Investment Program. Green Revolving Funds in Action: Case Study Series
Author: Caine, Rebecca
Date: 2011-07-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Program Proposals,Energy Conservation,Lighting,Energy Management,Sustainability,Educational Finance,Financial Support,Colleges,Endowment Funds,Campuses,Costs,Budgets,Program Implementation,Energy,Case Studies,Investment

The Caltech Energy Conservation Investment Program (CECIP) was initiated in 2009. It manages $8 million within an existing fund in the school's endowment, which had been created to finance capital projects. Any member of the Caltech community may submit a project proposal, and projects are considered for approval as long as they have at least a 15 percent return on investment or a simple payback period of less than six years. Building energy use is carefully tracked, both before and after projects are implemented, allowing for determination of the precise cost savings resulting from CECIP. Savings accrue to the fund until the loan has been repaid, and then are directed toward the general operating budget. CECIP has financed 13 large-scale building projects, ranging from lighting replacements to complete mechanical and control system retrofits. As of August 2010, these projects have reduced the school's energy bills by $1.5 million. They have achieved an average return on investment of 33 percent and an average payback period of three years. (Contains 12 endnotes.) [Additional funding for this case study was provided by the David Rockefeller Fund, HOK, John Merck Fund, Merck Family Fund, Roy A. Hunt Foundation, U.S. EPA Green Power Partnership and Wallace Global Fund.]
Stanford University: The Building Energy Retrofit Programs. Green Revolving Funds in Action: Case Study Series
Author: Flynn, Emily
Date: 2011-08-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Energy Management,Colleges,Sustainability,Educational Finance,Financial Support,Energy Conservation,Campuses,Costs,Budgets,Case Studies,Program Implementation,Energy

Stanford University's Energy Retrofit Program was created in 1993 to target resource reduction and conservation focused projects on campus. Fahmida Ahmed, Associate Director of the Department of Sustainability and Energy Management, says that Stanford has been investing in sustainability and energy-efficiency since the late 1970s, longer than many colleges and universities in the United States. In keeping with that tradition, Stanford University's President John Hennessey highlights sustainability as a core value of the institution, and the campus operates two green revolving funds. (Contains 2 tables and 25 endnotes.) [Additional funding for this case study was provided by the David Rockefeller Fund, HOK, John Merck Fund, Merck Family Fund, Roy A. Hunt Foundation, U.S. EPA Green Power Partnership, and Wallace Global Fund.]
Western Michigan University: Quasi-Revolving Fund. Green Revolving Funds in Action: Case Study Series
Author: Billingsley, Christina
Date: 2011-10-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Educational Finance,Investment,Maintenance,Sustainability,Financial Support,Colleges,Energy Conservation,Campuses,Costs,Budgets,Energy Management,Program Implementation,Energy,Cost Effectiveness,Case Studies,Program Proposals

Western Michigan University has designed an innovative &quot;Quasi-Revolving Fund&quot; model that demonstrates the institution's full commitment to incorporating sustainability into campus operations. The Quasi-Revolving Fund recaptures money from cost-savings, similar to a typical green revolving fund, but it also sources capital from the broader utilities, maintenance, and other budgets as necessary in a fluid manner. Therefore, its ability to finance projects is often far more substantial than the fixed pool of capital that comprises most revolving funds. As a result, it does not have a formal and consistent fund size; project finance opportunities are constantly tracked and reviewed as modifications to the overall utilities and maintenance budgets are made. This process allows for the institution to continuously invest in sustainability initiatives that promise a high rate of return without being limited by a lack of capital in the fund itself. Though the university began its Quasi-Revolving Fund in 1980, it did not begin to careful track project data until 1996. Since then, the fund's strategy for supporting sustainability improvements has achieved a 47 percent return on investment. (Contains 14 endnotes.) [Additional funding for this case study was provided by the David Rockefeller Fund, HOK, John Merck Fund, Merck Family Fund, Roy A. Hunt Foundation, U.S. EPA Green Power Partnership, and Wallace Global Fund.]
Iowa State University: Live Green Revolving Loan Fund. Green Revolving Funds in Action: Case Study Series
Author: Billingsley, Christina
Date: 2011-10-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Educational Finance,Energy Conservation,Case Studies,Sustainability,Financial Support,Colleges,Campuses,Costs,Budgets,Budgeting,Energy Management,Dining Facilities,Program Implementation,Energy,Investment,College Presidents

The $3 million Live Green Revolving Loan Fund (LGRLF) at Iowa State University (ISU) was launched in 2008. The LGRLF is unique in its decentralized implementation structure which allows each department and building to reap the benefits of their own efficiency measures and gives individual departments the incentive to propose resource-saving projects. After modifying budgeting processes to allow for this decentralized structure, ISU administrators created the fund under the leadership of the university president. Since then, ISU's fund has provided capital for more than 11 unique projects throughout campus, focusing on areas such as waste diversion, energy conservation, and efficiency. (Contains 12 endnotes.) [Additional funding for this paper was provided by the David Rockefeller Fund, HOK, John Merck Fund, Merck Family Fund, Roy A. Hunt Foundation, U.S. EPA Green Power Partnership, and Wallace Global Fund.]
Boston University: Sustainability Revolving Loan Fund. Green Revolving Funds in Action: Case Study Series
Author: Flynn, Emily
Date: 2011-09-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Educational Finance,Energy,Lighting,Sustainability,Financial Support,Energy Conservation,Colleges,Campuses,Costs,Case Studies,College Administration,College Presidents

Boston University's (BU) Sustainability Revolving Loan Fund was created in 2008 through an allocation of $1 million from the university's administrative budget. The fund is administered by the Vice President of Operations. Potential projects are identified by the university's Director of Energy Administration and Operations along with the Sustainability Director; projects are approved by the Vice President of Operations. The fund achieves an average cost-savings of $70,782 per project, with an average return on investment of 57 percent, including utility incentives. As of December of 2010, the fund had invested $995,000 in projects on campus including lighting upgrades in the campus hockey rink and a fitness center. Cumulatively, these projects have contributed to an annual energy savings of 2,546,000 kWh for the university. The fund does not charge interest, a policy that will maintain the fund at its original size of $1 million. (Contains 26 endnotes.) [Additional funding for this paper was provided by the David Rockefeller Fund, HOK, John Merck Fund, Merck Family Fund, Roy A. Hunt Foundation, U.S. EPA Green Power Partnership and Wallace Global Fund.]
Harvard University: Green Loan Fund. Green Revolving Funds in Action: Case Study Series
Author: Foley, Robert
Date: 2011-09-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Educational Finance,Program Effectiveness,Sanitation,Energy Conservation,Investment,Case Studies,Sustainability,Financial Support,Colleges,Operating Expenses,Campuses,Costs,Budgets,Energy Management,Energy

The Green Loan Fund at Harvard University has been an active source of capital for energy efficiency and waste reduction projects for almost a decade. This case study examines the revolving fund's history from its inception as a pilot project in the 1990s to its regeneration in the early 2000s to its current operations today. The green revolving fund has been a successful self-replenishing tool for encouraging Harvard's schools and units to invest in projects that generate cost savings and reduce their environmental impacts. Originally funded by the President's Office at $1.5 million, the now $12 million revolving loan fund provides capital to Harvard for high performance campus design, operations, and maintenance projects. The fund's low-interest loans have successfully financed projects which save the university electricity, natural gas, water, waste disposal fees, along with other operating costs. Challenges faced by the fund's administrators have included promoting the fund across a decentralized campus, soliciting project proposals, and ensuring that projects are successfully implemented and documented. Despite these challenges, the fund has experienced average annual returns of 30 percent, saved the university $4.8 million dollars annually, and reduced Harvard's environmental footprint. Table of Performance is appended. (Contains 27 endnotes.) [Additional funding for this paper was provided by the David Rockefeller Fund, HOK, John Merck Fund, Merck Family Fund, Roy A. Hunt Foundation, U.S. EPA Green Power Partnership and Wallace Global Fund.]