Advocacy and Public Policy

2004, 58 pages, Performing Arts Research Coalition, 1156 15th Street NW, Suite 810, Washington, D.C., 20005

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Ralph Smith, the 2007 Conference Chairman, issued a challenge in his welcome message – “that all who attend will leave with renewed energy, capacity and resolve to make a positive contribution toward meeting the challenges of our time.”

This brief presents research findings as well as policy recommendations arising from a study of the No Child Left Behind Act and its implications for immigrant children and English language learners (ELLs). Analyses are based on nationally-representative data from the Schools and Staffing Survey and detailed case studies of selected elementary schools and school districts serving high concentrations of ELL students. Results reveal an extraordinary degree of concentration of ELL students in a few schools that tend to be large, urban and serve a predominantly minority student population.

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   Gifts of the Muse (1Mb)

At a time when public support of the arts faces a range of challenges, state arts agencies could use a framework to help them better serve the arts community and engage more people in the arts -- thereby elevating these agencies' public value.

Native America at the new Millennium is a Ford Foundation-funded collaboration by the Harvard Project, Native Nations Institute, and First Nations Development Institute that serves as a primer on contemporary American Indian affairs. NANM addresses topics as wide-ranging as tribal government, non-profit organizations, political activism, economic development, housing, welfare, health, arts, and media.

First Nations Development Institute and Native Americans in Philanthropy convened a group of Native philanthropic leaders in Minneapolis/St. Paul on September 14 2005, to discuss how we can better support the development of Native foundations and Native philanthropy. The objective of this meeting was to provide insight and input into the design and implementation of a structure to support the further development of Native foundations and Native philanthropy through technical assistance, advocacy and research.

The story of how the Boston Foundation became the first community foundation to develop and implement policy on exercising its proxy votes on investments to advance its mission.

Posted courtesy of Stanford Social Innovation Review

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   What Works (5.9Mb)

This article demonstrates how the income tax break for charitable contributions effectively creates an inequitable federal subsidy of some charitable organizations over others, and proposes policy changes that would address this situation.

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   Failure of Philanthropy (362Kb)

"Learning and the Arts: Crossing Boundaries" was a meeting of 120 funding professionals in the arts, education, or children, youth and family programs of fifty foundations, that was organized by the Getty Trust, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. Together with a group of outstanding researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, they explored the value philanthropy can add to education and child development by integrating the arts into schools and non-school programs for children and youth.