August 11th, 2017
READY NEWS
News & resources from the Forum and the field about collaborative work to get young people ready by 21.

Want More Kids to Be Ready? Help them Name and Appreciate the Skills They Already Have
Blog by Karen Pittman, President & CEO, The Forum for Youth Investment

Lots of people are talking about the importance of ensuring that students have social and emotional skills (SEL) needed to be college and career ready.  Too often, however, the focus is on what it takes to teach young people these skills.   These skills, however, are often learned in the context of doing other things - playing, studying, socializing, working, even getting out of bad situations.  We often don't know what we've learned until the skill is named or know that it is important.  This is especially true of students who are black, brown or poor.
Collective Impact Learning Labcollective
Collective Impact Learning Lab: Tools and Techniques for Achieving Results
O ctober 17-19, 2017
Silver Spring, Md.
(Washington, D.C. area)

The Forum for Youth Investment and Collective Impact Forum are teaming up to bring you a practical, hands-on, three-day workshop and coaching session designed for backbone leaders, steering committee members, and other partners actively involved in collective impact.
 
The workshop is designed for leaders who are thinking about how the critical tasks of collective impact efforts can be staged and sequenced in order to move steadily towards improving outcomes. It is particularly useful for those in the early stages of forming or planning a collective impact initiative, or in the process of re-igniting or refreshing their initiative for the next phase of joint work. Special emphasis is given to tools and techniques that help leaders align and connect multiple issues and initiatives, identifying areas for joint planning and action.

National Meeting Webinar Serieswebinar
Key Findings from Market Research on Social and Emotional Learning
Webinar
August 17, 2017
2:00-3:00 PM ED

Social and Emotional Learning. Whole Child. Non-Cognitive Skills. Character. There are many different terms in play for this work, which is intended to help children learn skills they need to succeed in school, in work and in life. During this session, results will be shared from a recent market research project conducted by EDGE Research that explored how K-12 educators, out-of-school time leaders, and parents think about SEL. Researchers also explored how these groups responded to different ways of framing the benefits of SEL. The findings are based on research, interviews with 45 field leaders, a survey of 1,600 professionals, and focus groups.

Collective Impact Practices - KeynoteCIP
Complementary or in Conflict? Community Organizing and Collective Impact
Recently, the Collective Impact Forum brought together over 800 attendees at the 2017 Collective Impact Convening in Boston. At the event, Marshall Ganz, a pioneer of grassroots organizing over the past five decades, shared what the collective impact field can learn from decades of research and practice into effective community organizing, social activism and community change.
College Preparedness college
Are High Schools Doing All they Can to Prepare Young People for College?
Blog by Hayley Frazier, Communications Specialist, The Forum for Youth Investment

Getting into college is a goal for most young people. Recently, Frank W. Ballou High School, a public school in a low-income community in Washington, D.C. made national headlines due to its 2017 graduating class accomplishing a 100% college acceptance rate. This news shocked many, given reports concerning staff turnover and low test scores in the months prior. I recently attended a celebration and discussion of this exciting achievement, held by the America's Promise Alliance along with Opportunity Nation and The Urban Alliance. My excitement for these young people was clouded with concern throughout the afternoon as to whether these young people are truly positioned to succeed in the next stages of their lives.