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We already know that federal housing policies such as redlining , real estate practices like blockbusting , and the resulting “ white flight ” to suburbs in post-World War America caused cities to segregate, sealing generations of African Americans into poverty . But even if these discriminatory policies hadn’t existed, the fate of our cities may not have been all that different, a new working paper published in the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests. Economists Allison Shertzer...

A new report has charter-school advocates crying foul and their opponents cheering. In the process, the broader point that some schools have seriously questionable student-discipline practices is being lost in the crossfire. This isn’t exactly surprising. Nothing sparks an uproar in education like a charter-school debate, but it’s worth taking a step back to focus on what’s actually going on. The report , published by the Center for Civil Rights Remedies at the University of California, Los...

This program is for licensed clinicians with at 5 years of experience and could be used to leverage efforts to improve health equity in communities across the country. Applicants can practice anywhere in the US and US territories and remain in their communities for the 3-year fellowship. Below is additional information about the program and upcoming webinars. Applications are due 4/19. Working to Build a Culture of Health Growing evidence reveals that many factors beyond health care—such as...

A post by Mark Walsh, 8 Ways Our Bodies Are Linked to Social Control highlights the many ways our society imposes control. It brought to my mind another recent post about specialized desks that have been installed in a Kentucky school. When I first read the item about the desks I thought it was a great idea and a recognition that some kids need to move more than others. That's one view. Another is that this is another way our institutions impose control on "disruptive" kids. Another view is...

A growing body of research shows that people who spend time outside in sunny, green and natural spaces tend to be happier and healthier than those who don’t.

Leaders of an indigenous community in rural Canada have appealed to national authorities for help after a wave of suicides and attempted suicides set off a public health crisis in their remote town and revived a painful conversation about the relationship between the government and its native communities. Six people have killed themselves in the past three months, and more than 140 more have attempted suicide or expressed a desire to kill themselves in the Cree Indian community of Cross...

Nobody dreams of falling into poverty in the future. But for too many, poverty is a doom-filled nightmare that all too often comes true. To help people who don't have a realistic sense of just how financially vulnerable they are, sociologists Thomas Hirschl and Mark Rank of Cornell and Washington University respectively, have come up with the poverty probability calculator . As the Washington Post reports , the calculator predicts the probability of falling into poverty based on age,...

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is excited to tell you about our new, funded leadership opportunities—for clinicians, researchers, doctoral students, community leaders and professionals—to build a Culture of Health in America. Applications are due April 19 . Improving health for all is one of the most pervasive challenges of our time. Solving it requires transformative change inside and outside of our health care system, and at every level of our society. It also takes bold visionary...

In the first two parts of this series, we talk about the implications of trauma and student behavior and how to create a trauma informed school. The success of creating a trauma informed school weighs heavily on the school and community embracing the holistic approach. At Los Angeles Education Partnership, we achieve this through our Community School model. As former teachers, we are aware that the more we pile on our teachers, the less effective the approach becomes. We’re not trying to...

Universities are under increasing pressure to make the racial climate of their campuses a focus, a fact college presidents are beginning to recognize and act upon. “I know from talking to them that they’re struggling with this,” said Lorelle Espinosa, the assistant vice president for the American Council on Education's Center for Policy Research and Strategy, which surveyed 567 college and university presidents. “But they’re actually acting,” she added, pointing to the fact that about a...

The reality is that kids who are misbehaving in school need more attention, not less. When students don’t get that extra attention and are instead removed from class, this contributes to an expanding achievement gap that increases the likelihood of dropping out. California has made great strides in its efforts to reform punitive student discipline practices. Thanks in large part to the implementation of research-based strategies like restorative justice and Positive Behavioral Interventions...

With a dearth of child psychiatrists in the state, Wisconsin must expand a program that prepares primary care doctors to treat the kids they already see who show signs of mental illness. That was one of the solutions suggested by experts to USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. As part of our reporting on Kids in Crisis, we've been on a journey, exploring all the twists and turns involving children’s mental health in the states. We also asked parents, advocates and providers in the field to offer...