The Department of Health and Human Services announced that it is working to strengthen quality and accountability in Head Start. For the first time ever, Head Start providers had to prove that they are providing the best early education services available in their community. A new rule implemented by the Obama Administration require that…
5 Lessons Learned about Student Success
Union City, New Jersey, an urban city just across the Hudson from Manhattan, has done the unthinkable. They went from having one of the worst school districts in the state to competing with the best. What was their success? Professor David L. Kirp reveals in Improbable Scholars how a poor urban school district has 90…
New Tool to Find Evidence-Based Programs
There’s a NEW TOOL for schools, government agencies and community-based organizations to help identify and fund scientifically proven programs with a track record of promoting children’s health and development. A new interactive website called Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development makes it easy to select cost-effective programs, based on scientific evaluations of those programs that show…
Where is Your Governing Board in Its Life Cycle?
All organizations go through different life cycles. Where does your organization fall in the life cycles described below? Stage One: The Organizing Board Organizing boards tend to be one of two types, boards that follow a leader/founder and boards that lead or control an organization. Leading boards tend to be small, are often slow to…
New Grant Opportunity to Support Early Childhood
The federal Health Resources and Services Administration will provide an estimated $7.8 million through its “Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems: Building Health Through Integration” grant program. Eligible applicants include State governments, County governments, City or township governments and Nonprofits. Grants will go to proposals that: Improve healthy physical, social and emotional development during infancy and…
New Grant Opportunity for Community Revitalization Programs
Choice Neighborhoods support comprehensive community revitalization by focusing on housing, people and neighborhoods. Planning grants of up to $500,000 are available to Public Housing Authorities (PHAs), local governments, nonprofits, and for-profit developers that apply jointly. Grantees are asked to develop a Transformation Plan to guide the revitalization of public and/or assisted housing units and…
New Partnership with AmeriCorps to Support School Turnaround
At the end of February, the U.S. Department of Education and the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) announced a new competitive AmeriCorps grant program to support school turnaround efforts. It will provide $15 million in public funds over three years to reinforce and accelerate intervention efforts in the nation’s lowest-performing schools. The…
Begin with the End in Mind
I am sure that you have heard of the quote by Yogi Berra, “If you don’t know where you are going, how are you going to know when you get there?” Why begin with the end in mind? Spending some time to think about your long-term goals – what you hope to accomplish in…
Welcome to the Ripple Effect News
Greetings! Welcome to the Ripple Effect News produced by Transform Consulting Group. At Transform, we believe in the ripple effect that one organization or individual can have on others. We are privileged to work with clients that are making a difference in the lives of children, families, schools and communities. Through the blog, we…