Worforce Development, Welfare Reform and ChildWell-Being

I communicated with the principal of Mother's Earth Children's Charter School, but she did not respond this week.  As a result, I accessed http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/resources/reports_and_working_papers/working_papers/forum_wp1/ and found a working paper which is aligned with the EDUC 6162 course materials and my interests.  The working paper is entitled "Workforce Development, Welfare Reform, and Child Well-Being".  When I think of workforce development and welfare reform, I think about getting adults back to work.  I tend not to think about the unintended consequences of workforce development policies on children.  After reading this paper, I had these insights:
1.  Five different experiments examining various approaches to work and welfare policies across the U.S. and Canada revealed mandated employment policies versus "make work pay" policies had an impact on children.  "Make work pay" policies with supports improved the academic performance and social behavior of children, while the mandatory work with no supports did not.
2.  "Make work pay" supports include child care subsidies, health insurance subsidies, case managers with low workloads, temporary jobs, job training, and wage supplements.  Child care supports were determined to be an important "effective factor" on children.
3.  Contrary to what was seen with young children, both the mandatory employment policies and "make work pay" policies had negative effects on parents perception of their teenagers.  This may be due to fewer interactions between the working parent and the adolescent and/or the adolescent has to start taking care of younger siblings because the parent is now working.
In summary, this paper continued to expand my understanding of how policies impact equity.  There are examples all over the country of how policies can be implemented in a manner which supports parents and their children.  This paper indicated the positive results of "make work pay" were consistent across cities in and outside of the U.S. 

Reference
Center on the Development Child: Harvard University. (2007). Workforce Development, Welfare Reform, and Child Well-Being.  Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/index.php/resources/reports_and_working_papers/working_papers/forum_wp1/

Innovation For Schools

This week, I co-facilitated my third meeting at a school which may be taken over by the state due to poor performance.  During the meeting, we celebrated a new partnership between the school and a local university to start adult education classes in the building.  Our NAACP Education Committee was excited, but the school leadership was leery regarding student safety.  Reading the innovation approaches to addressing such safety concerns on the Harlem Children's Zone, Inc. (HCZ).  website was perfect timing.  Civic Builders has partnered wth HCZ to created flexible spaces where students, the community, and businesses can coexist.  In the Civic Builders and HCZ's document "Maximizing Capital Dollars:  Practical Lessons from Charter Schools" (n.d.),  several design examples are described which actually help nurture partnerships and relationships http://www.hcz.org/images/stories/pdfs/HCZCivicCharterConstruction.pdf. Examples include large flexible spaces for community workshops and meetings.  These spaces have their own separate entrances which ensures safety for students.  Also, school spaces can be reconfigured, on short notice, for after-school programs, health clinics, or community events. I plan to take this information back to the school, so they can see options for addressing their safety concerns while also welcoming adults to take classes in the school.  This document opened my eyes to the possibility that our buildings may be as antiquated and rigid as our subject-by-subject curriculum. I think we all need help seeing new possibilities which allow a better learning environment and stronger community partnerships.  One idea I found quite scary was allowing businesses to rent space in the building.  Civic Builder suggests renting space to businesses could generate much needed revenue and bring more community traffic to the school.  This would be a concept that a economists or politician would recommend as an innovative and economical use of space, because they're looking strictly at the numbers. A "good for business" approach must never outweigh what is best for the students, parents, and community. 

TJ & Indigenous People of Canada

My new conversation partner is TJ Skalski in Canada.  I found her by watching her podcast on World Forum Radio http://www.worldforumfoundation.org/wf/radio.php.  She is the principal of the only charter school for indigenous people of Canada.   Her school is called Mother's Earth Children's Charter School http://www.meccs.org/site/.  TJ's grandmother told her a long time ago she was a teacher, even though she entered a different career.  This stuck with her, and she eventually went back to school to become a teacher.  She noticed, however, the indigenous children were hurting.  The children come to school damaged, wounded, scarred, hungry, depressed and feeling unworthy.  That's why she started the charter school, which is based on a culturally-responsive curriculum.  The school curriculum is grounded in the Medicine Wheel, and the mission is to preserve and sustain the way of life where children's gifts are nurtured.  TJ was excited that I contacted her.  She explained that while her superintendent is supportive, many are stuck in "western ways" and do not understand the need to teach a different way.   More than half of the indigenous children are poor and unemployment is about 25% of the reservation and 30% on the reservations.. TJ said they need their culture and language to survive and thrive. I love TJ's passion, and her school mission.  Viewing life in a linear disconnected manner is hurting all of us, but especially indigenous people.

Inspiration In Harlem, New York!

I changed my domestic website to the Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ):  http://www.hcz.org.   HCZ has made an extraordinary difference in the lives of thousands of  poor children in New York.  HCZ has done this by bringing many support services to children and families where they live.  In 1997, HCZ brought services to a 24 block area of drug-ridden Harlem, New York.  Now, they bring services to 8,000 children and 6,000 adults within a 100 block area. HCZ brings services to address all the issues that poor families face, and they are getting results.   For example, 190 four-year olds that entered the Harlem Gems program in 2009 went form 16.5% classified as delayed or very delayed to no students classified as very delayed.  Percentage of "advanced" students went from 21.3% to 41.6%.  Wow!  I love it!  The issue I identified from the HCZ site is the significant investment that is required to turn things around for Harlem families.  The fiscal year 2010 budget for HCZ was $75 million to support the Harlem Zone and surrounding areas.  How do we make the investment needed in children and families if decision-makers are focused on a machete approach to spending for domestic programs.  The answer is the "community" beyond geographic borders.  We all have to feel a sense of community regardless if the school children are actually our children or if we live in the area.  "The test of a morality of a society is what it does for its children" - Dietrich Bonhoeffer. HCZ and its leader, Geoffrey Canada are an inspiration.  I'm ready to step up! 

Expanding Resources

I am looking forward to expanding my resources and sharing information with other professionals in different countries.  To begin my search for new contacts, I researched the UNICEF website.  There are UNICEF affiliates in many countries.  I chose to research two countries in Africa, Congo and Ghana.  I was struck and saddened by the violence against children which is described on the website.  The challenges of vaccinating children against malaria, yellow fever, and polio were also described.  I am troubled but interested in hearing more.  As a result, I sent email messages to the UNICEF representatives for both countries.  I hope I receive a reply.

Regarding the professional website I chose, I researched the National Council on Educating Black  (www.ncebc.org)Children (NCEBC).  My new education colleagues talk about NCEBC quite a bit, and there is a local chapter here in Indianapolis.  Their guiding principles actually apply to all children.  1) Have a principal who is a strong instructional leader; 2) Provide a safe community-like climate conducive for learning; 3)   Be staffed with professionals who have high expectations for all students; 4) Provide a curriculum that relates to the experiences of the learners; and 5) Maintain constant evaluation with remediation for mastery of content.  NCEBC was founded by a Harvard professor (Dr. Ron Edmonds) because many assume poor Black children cannot learn.  He knew, as we all know, that is simply not true.