The Future of ChildrenVolumes for the Gates Foundation

Lauren MooreProject ManagerThe Future of Children, Princeton University

Fragile FamiliesImmigrant ChildrenWork and Family BalancePost Secondary Education

June 15, 2011

Bringing Research to Practice

Project Description:• The Future of Children, a partnership between Princeton’s

Woodrow Wilson School and the Brookings Institution, translates the best social science research about children and youth into information that is useful to policymakers, practitioners, grant-makers, advocates, the media, and students of public policy – effectively bringing research to practice.

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Who will use the information we generate and how will they use it? Audiences/Users

• Unique mailing list of 4,000 for every volume including non-profit organizations, government officials, academics, and key press people from across the country. 13,000 listserv receives electronic version.

• Events – launch event at the Brookings Institution, practitioners’ conference in Princeton, New York City events, & other national events.

Policy Implications• Policy makers use volumes to advocate for evidence-based programs.

• Ex. Building Strong Families (Fragile Families volume editor Sara McLanahan testified before Congress).

Practice Implications• Practitioners attend conferences that present specific information about

their constituencies and best practices for working with them.

• Ex. English Language Learning Pre-K – 3rd Grade Practitioners’ Conference in conjunction with Immigrant Children volume

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•Distributed to more than 20,000

•Events in partnership with:•The Brookings Institution•Office of Child Support Enforcement, New York•Office of the Attorney General of New Jersey•Rutgers University •Chapin Hall in Chicago•CUNY, and the •Princeton Club of New York, among others.

•Highlighted in Time Magazine, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post among others.

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•Distributed to more than 20,000

•Events in partnership with:•The Brookings Institution•Education Research Section•National Institute for Early Education Research•Princeton Area Community Foundation•Center for Applied Linguistics•Colorin Colorado, and •New Jersey services working with immigrants.

•Highlighted in Education Week, National Public Radio, Science Blog, and on a range of immigrant organization websites.

How do we explore issues? Methods, Measures, and Timing

• Select Issue Editors who are experts on the subject. • Issue Editors select expert authors from across the country

to compile the best research on the topic.• Authors’ conference includes discussants and policy experts

who provide feedback.• Stakeholders committee from the local area (practitioners

and policy makers) attend authors’ conference to brainstorm event and media outreach – both locally and nationally.

• Journal in production for two years. After publication, events and media continue to bring key research to practitioners and policy makers on all journal topics.

• Future Goals:− Update journals in ancillary pieces every 4-5 years.− Developing new communications strategy (2011-12).

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What are we learning? Fragile Families

• Fragile Families, parents unwed when children are born, have risen

dramatically in the last fifty years.

• Contrary to popular opinion, most couples are together at the time of their

child’s birth.

• Children from fragile families struggle on a range of indicators when compared

to their peers.

• Volume recommends programs in the areas of teen pregnancy prevention,

incarceration, and couples support at the time of a child’s birth.

Immigrant Children• Immigrant Children have better social and health indicators that deteriorate

with time spent in the U.S. and across successive generations.

• Immigrant Children are less likely to utilize government programs – especially

early education programs – and face significant gaps in school-readiness.

• Barriers to higher education are especially difficult for the undocumented.

• Improving immigrant children’s education through early education, English

Language Learning programs, and passage of the DREAM Act are critical.

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Next Steps Work and Family Balance

• Focuses on changing realities for working U.S. families, including changes in care responsibilities, employment, & demographics.

• Suggests certain leave and workplace flexibility policies have positive impacts for both employees and employers.

• Upcoming Fall 2011 Volume, Policy Brief, Summary pieces, Brookings Institution Event, Practitioners Conference, NYU & other events, and media outreach.

Post Secondary Education• Volume will focus on Post Secondary Education in the U.S. –

graduate school, 4-year college, community colleges, and vocational training - and will make policy recommendations for improving access and success in Post Secondary Education.

• Open Space Meeting at Gates Foundation conference to discuss content and outreach.

• Volume begins production Summer 2011; published in Spring 2013.

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