While research has shown that a diverse teacher workforce benefits all children, and especially children of color, a disproportionate student loan debt burden on educators of color may be leading to higher turnover rates, undermining efforts to diversify the workforce, a report from the Center for American Progress finds. The report, Student...

Just over half (55 percent) of Americans say clergy members and religious leaders have a positive impact on society, with those who identify with a religion (62 percent) or who attend services at least two or three times a month (77 percent) more likely to say so, a survey conducted by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds. Based...

Although 39 percent of Americans age 25 and older have an associates' or higher degree, there are large gaps in college attainment rates between rural and urban areas, while high rates in urban communities often mask stark disparities by race and/or ethnicity, a report and interactive map from the Center for American Progress finds. Based on...

A growing evidence base strongly suggests that addressing high-need high-cost patients' social and medical needs holistically can improve health outcomes while lowering costs, a report from the Commonwealth Fund finds. Designed to be used in conjunction with the fund's Return on Investment (ROI) Calculator for Partnerships to Address the...

A video and accompanying introductory report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation outline four core techniques that can help social-sector leaders achieve better and more equitable results: 1) differentiating and understanding the connection between "whole population" and the targeted "program population" and being aware of who is most...

There is little agreement about the reasons behind the decline in audiences for nonprofit performing arts organizations and no proven solution for reversing the trend, a literature review by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin finds. Funded by the Wallace Foundation, the report, Audience Building and Financial Health in the...

Only 40 percent of U.S. secondary school students, 59 percent of their parents/guardians, and 50 percent of instructional and non-instructional staff believe that their school's disciplinary policies and practices are fair, a report from YouthTruth finds. Based on a survey of more than a hundred thousand students, parents/guardians, and staff...

As of December 2018, a record 70.8 million people were displaced worldwide as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, or human rights violations, including 25.9 million refugees, 41.3 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), and 3.5 million asylum seekers, a report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees finds. According...

The use of money bail, fines, and court fees — which in 2018 accounted for a quarter of the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court budget — has long driven New Orleans' high jail incarceration rate without making the city safer and has disproportionately affected poor African-American families, a report from the Vera Institute of...

States are losing ground when it comes to preventing deaths from suicide, alcohol, and drugs, a report from the Commonwealth Fund finds. Based on an analysis of publicly available data across forty-seven healthcare indicators as well as income-based disparities within states, the report, 2019 Scorecard on State Health System Performance (65...

Foundations and local, state, and federal government agencies that fund nonprofit service providers increasingly are taking an "outcomes-oriented" approach that emphasizes results as measured by predefined outcome metrics, putting more pressure on service providers to track outcomes and demonstrate impact, a report from the Urban...

Twenty-one states have taken no action to stabilize the individual insurance market created under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and improve access to health insurance coverage, an interactive map from the Commonwealth Fund shows. What Is Your State Doing to Affect Access to Adequate Health Insurance? examines which of eight policy actions...

Popular film and television series rarely include characters with mental health issues, and the few that do often portray characters with such issues in ways that trivialize and dehumanize them, a report from the University of Southern California's USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative finds. Based on a study of a hundred top-grossing films and...

Socioeconomic status and race affect children's life trajectories more than early achievement scores — not least because affluence provides opportunities, safe environments, and material supports that enable low-achieving students to improve their scores, earn a degree, and secure a good entry-level job, a report from Georgetown...