How do we get to reducing inequality?

Webinar, Part I June 22, 2015

Changing the Conversation About Inequality:

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Focus Areas

Launched in 2009

Demand for rigorous research evidence

has grown

Understanding role of research evidence

and how it is used in policy and practice

Launched in 2014

Responses not causes/consequences

Understanding programs, policies, and

practices that can mitigate the impact of

inequality of young people in the United

States

USE OF RESEARCH EVIDENCE REDUCING INEQUALITY

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To share what we mean by “response to inequality”

To show how a research study can inform a response

to inequality

Part I, June 22, 2015

• Postsecondary education & workforce transition

• Juvenile & Criminal Justice

Part II, Fall 2015

• Immigrant-Origin Children and Youth

• Mental Health and Mental Health Services

Goals of Reducing Inequality Webinars

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Questions about the process of applying for our

Major Grants competition.

What Today’s Webinar Will Not Address

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Brief introduction to the Reducing Inequality initiative

Postsecondary Education & Workforce Transition • What we know about the problem of inequality

• What we need to know to inform a response to inequality

Q & A

Juvenile & Criminal Justice • What we know about the problem of inequality

• What we need to know to inform a response to inequality

Q & A

Roadmap for Today’s Webinar

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1. Levels of inequality are exceptionally high

2. High inequality causes economic and social

harm

3. Social policies can combat inequality

4. We need research to identify effective

policies, programs, and practices

Inequality is the Problem

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Focus on young people (ages 5 to 25)

A research agenda to build, understand, test, and

improve programs, policies, and practices • No single study will be transformative

• Results will accumulate to guide policy and practice

Interdisciplinary portfolio

What do we need to know to craft effective responses to inequality?

Hallmarks of our approach

We seek researchers to answer this call

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25 years since The Forgotten Half

Focus on community colleges • Serve a large proportion of low-income

and first-generation college students

Who are the “new forgotten half”? • Attend but do not complete college

• Reap no rewards

Postsecondary education and workforce transition

Research on Reducing Inequality

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Describe the new college reality

Study improvements in high school and

college counseling

Show how to improve high school, college,

and workplace links

Financial support is part of the story

Suggestions for a New Research Agenda

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Descriptive studies meant to clarify the

mechanisms for reducing inequality.

Intervention studies that examine attempts to

reduce inequality.

Studies that improve the measurement of

inequality in ways that will enhance the work of

researchers, practitioners, or policymakers.

We Support Different Types of Studies

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Descriptive studies meant to clarify the

mechanisms for reducing inequality. Identifying strategies to improve students’ understanding of the options, odds, obstacles, and outcomes of the new college reality.

Intervention studies that examine attempts to

reduce inequality. Testing an intervention to improve information on the new college reality for high school and college counselors.

Studies that improve the measurement of

inequality in ways that will enhance the work of

researchers, practitioners, or policymakers. Development of measures that tap into job quality

What these studies could look like….

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Q & A

Q&A

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Inequality in the justice

system is on all of our

minds today

Closely bound up with

educational inequality

Juvenile and Criminal Justice

Research on Reducing Inequality

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Break the school-to-prison pipeline

Implement & study new police practices

Change patterns of thinking

Reduce economic inequality in the broader society

How can new research help?

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Q & A

Q&A

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Adam Gamoran’s 2013 Annual Report Essay

The five commissioned papers

Major Grants 2014 webinar

Vivian Louie’s Tips for Writing a Letter of Inquiry

for the Reducing Inequality Initiative

Research Grants Application Guide

Further Information on Our Website

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We look forward to receiving your Letters of

Inquiry!

Next deadline: AUGUST 4, 2015, 3:00 P.M. EST

We look forward to having you join us again in the

fall for our webinar on reducing inequality in

immigration and mental health services.

Looking Ahead

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