Session 3: Social Development

Multiple Presenters

Location

Lewis 301

Start Date

16-7-2015 2:10 PM

Description

Moderator: Meghan McCullough. University of Mississippi, Center for Population Studies

Data Driven Approaches to Community Education: Changing Culture, Improving Lives / Bryan Farrell, Alan Burns. Mississippi State University

The purpose of this paper is to discover and expose meaningful insights into the abundant value of community based education. This concept paper will discuss a variety of approaches and benefits to bringing together parents and students in an educational setting. The two largest issues commonly stated when referring to problems in the state of Mississippi are health and education. Community led health initiatives have been thoroughly explored in relation to how they bring about a health conscious culture. Education is key to overcoming many of the issues facing Mississippi and if a grassroots approach can change a culture that has repeatedly failed to fully embrace education, the implications are unbound. This paper will offer examples of the various directions community based education can take and, given the particulars of the community, what can be predicted to work best. It will explain the value and expected outcomes of embarking upon a community based education path and will pave the way for an understanding of how to go about implementing and evaluating such a policy. This paper will be multidisciplinary in that it will encompass motivational theory, education, economics, community development, political philosophy, sociology and anthropology. This is the first in a series of work aimed at creating, implementing and evaluating community based educational programs in the state of Mississippi.

The State of Re-entry and Mississippi’s Expungement Law / Kyra McDonald, Linda Stringfellow. Mississippi Center for Justice and Delta State University AmeriCorps*VISTA

In 2012, Mississippi recorded the second-highest imprisonment rate in the country, a statistic surpassed only by Louisiana. In fact, data suggests that over the past 30 years, Mississippi’s prison population more than quadrupled and, in 2013, the state’s prison population exceeded 22,400 inmates. Additionally, research shows that nonviolent offenders, who made up more than two-thirds of the increase in prison admissions between 2002 and 2012 accounted for much of Mississippi’s corrections growth. To address the state’s prison population, advocate for the growing need for reform in Mississippi, and provide a resource for individuals re-entering society, particularly in the area of employment, the Mississippi Center for Justice’s Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Legal Fellow along with Delta State University’s AmeriCorps VISTA Director held two expungement clinics in the Mississippi Delta in early 2015. The response from the community was astounding. Hundreds of individuals with prior arrest and conviction histories were provided free legal and economic assistance concerning their criminal record. By focusing on expungements, which have the effect of striking-out an arrest and/or conviction on an individual’s criminal record, as a method of re-entry, individuals who participated in the clinics may now have a better opportunity to find employment, in particular, but also obtain housing, professional licenses, and other benefits that are essential to thriving in their communities.

EverFi and the Community Digital Scholars Program: Using Digital Tools to Promote Financial Literacy / Tom Pittman, Peggy Linton. Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi

Since 2011, the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi (CFNM) has partnered with EverFi, a leading education technology company, to bring web-based learning courses in areas of financial literacy, digital literacy and Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education to Mississippi youth. The CFNM initiative, called the Community Digital Scholars Program, brings these interactive resources to local students at no cost to the schools or taxpayers. Community Digital Scholars Program has reached 13,166 students with 132 on-line courses during the 2014-2015 school year. Learning gains in personal finance average 41 percent. EverFi’s platform uses simulation and gamification to teach important lessons that have a lasting impact on students’ lives, but can be put to use immediately.

Baby University: Using Community Building and Support to Create Engagement / Franziska Reff. Clarksdale Baby University

By age three, a baby's brain is nearly 85% developed. These first years provide an unmatched window of emotional, physical, and intellectual development. Modeled after the successful Harlem Children's Zone Program, Baby University works with parents of children prenatal to age three, to capitalize on this unique time of opportunity, teaching them the skills and knowledge necessary to raise happy, healthy children. Classes run for nine weeks with each week exploring a new, important aspect of child development, including nutrition, discipline, and emotional development. In its first year, the program had 27 graduates with high attendance rates and a 60% retention of continued parental participation post-graduation. Parental engagement is key in these early years, and strong participation is necessary to the success and impact of the course. Through tried and tailored strategies, Baby University's program has seen significant successes in increasing and influencing this engagement. This presentation will examine strategies undertaken by the program to increase family engagement, such as utilizing a joint didactic/therapeutic class model, facilitated group discussion, community building activities and others, as well as discuss lessons learned through the program that can be transposed to build engagement in other contexts.

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Jul 16th, 2:10 PM

Session 3: Social Development

Lewis 301

Moderator: Meghan McCullough. University of Mississippi, Center for Population Studies

Data Driven Approaches to Community Education: Changing Culture, Improving Lives / Bryan Farrell, Alan Burns. Mississippi State University

The purpose of this paper is to discover and expose meaningful insights into the abundant value of community based education. This concept paper will discuss a variety of approaches and benefits to bringing together parents and students in an educational setting. The two largest issues commonly stated when referring to problems in the state of Mississippi are health and education. Community led health initiatives have been thoroughly explored in relation to how they bring about a health conscious culture. Education is key to overcoming many of the issues facing Mississippi and if a grassroots approach can change a culture that has repeatedly failed to fully embrace education, the implications are unbound. This paper will offer examples of the various directions community based education can take and, given the particulars of the community, what can be predicted to work best. It will explain the value and expected outcomes of embarking upon a community based education path and will pave the way for an understanding of how to go about implementing and evaluating such a policy. This paper will be multidisciplinary in that it will encompass motivational theory, education, economics, community development, political philosophy, sociology and anthropology. This is the first in a series of work aimed at creating, implementing and evaluating community based educational programs in the state of Mississippi.

The State of Re-entry and Mississippi’s Expungement Law / Kyra McDonald, Linda Stringfellow. Mississippi Center for Justice and Delta State University AmeriCorps*VISTA

In 2012, Mississippi recorded the second-highest imprisonment rate in the country, a statistic surpassed only by Louisiana. In fact, data suggests that over the past 30 years, Mississippi’s prison population more than quadrupled and, in 2013, the state’s prison population exceeded 22,400 inmates. Additionally, research shows that nonviolent offenders, who made up more than two-thirds of the increase in prison admissions between 2002 and 2012 accounted for much of Mississippi’s corrections growth. To address the state’s prison population, advocate for the growing need for reform in Mississippi, and provide a resource for individuals re-entering society, particularly in the area of employment, the Mississippi Center for Justice’s Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Legal Fellow along with Delta State University’s AmeriCorps VISTA Director held two expungement clinics in the Mississippi Delta in early 2015. The response from the community was astounding. Hundreds of individuals with prior arrest and conviction histories were provided free legal and economic assistance concerning their criminal record. By focusing on expungements, which have the effect of striking-out an arrest and/or conviction on an individual’s criminal record, as a method of re-entry, individuals who participated in the clinics may now have a better opportunity to find employment, in particular, but also obtain housing, professional licenses, and other benefits that are essential to thriving in their communities.

EverFi and the Community Digital Scholars Program: Using Digital Tools to Promote Financial Literacy / Tom Pittman, Peggy Linton. Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi

Since 2011, the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi (CFNM) has partnered with EverFi, a leading education technology company, to bring web-based learning courses in areas of financial literacy, digital literacy and Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education to Mississippi youth. The CFNM initiative, called the Community Digital Scholars Program, brings these interactive resources to local students at no cost to the schools or taxpayers. Community Digital Scholars Program has reached 13,166 students with 132 on-line courses during the 2014-2015 school year. Learning gains in personal finance average 41 percent. EverFi’s platform uses simulation and gamification to teach important lessons that have a lasting impact on students’ lives, but can be put to use immediately.

Baby University: Using Community Building and Support to Create Engagement / Franziska Reff. Clarksdale Baby University

By age three, a baby's brain is nearly 85% developed. These first years provide an unmatched window of emotional, physical, and intellectual development. Modeled after the successful Harlem Children's Zone Program, Baby University works with parents of children prenatal to age three, to capitalize on this unique time of opportunity, teaching them the skills and knowledge necessary to raise happy, healthy children. Classes run for nine weeks with each week exploring a new, important aspect of child development, including nutrition, discipline, and emotional development. In its first year, the program had 27 graduates with high attendance rates and a 60% retention of continued parental participation post-graduation. Parental engagement is key in these early years, and strong participation is necessary to the success and impact of the course. Through tried and tailored strategies, Baby University's program has seen significant successes in increasing and influencing this engagement. This presentation will examine strategies undertaken by the program to increase family engagement, such as utilizing a joint didactic/therapeutic class model, facilitated group discussion, community building activities and others, as well as discuss lessons learned through the program that can be transposed to build engagement in other contexts.