Bolstering School Support during a Pandemic: Racial Equity and Trauma Informed Care Measures

Helen Zhou — Dec 8, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent school closures have dramatically altered the lives of students, their families, school districts, and communities at large. This document will provide information on what schools, with a focus on Community Schools and Parent Centers, could look like through racial equity and trauma informed lenses and examine best practices for conducting a needs assessment particularly during times of duress. We will also define and focus on four scenarios, as presented by …

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Gown Towns: A Case Study of Say Yes to Education

Richard Reeves, Katherine Guyot, Edward Rodrigue — Jul 10, 2018

Postsecondary education is the entry ticket to the middle class. But for low-income Americans, college success is rare (Chapter 1). This report consists primarily of a case study of Say Yes to Education, based on interviews, site visits, focus groups, surveys, and empirical analysis (our methods are described in Chapter 2).

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A Profile of Third-Grade Reading Proficiency in Erie County

United Way of Buffalo and Erie County — Nov 27, 2017

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Better Choices for Buffalo's Students: Expanding & Reforming the Criteria Schools System

Jongyeon Ee, Erica Frankenberg, Genevieve Siegel-Hawley, Natasha Amlani, Jennifer Ayscue, Gary Orfield, Brian Woodward — May 1, 2015

Today, the Buffalo Public Schools, which were national leaders in combining school choice and academic excellence in the l980s, retain only limited and very stratified public school choice. In the l980s, a very high level of diversity and academic excellence was achieved in the city. In the early l990s, the state department of education and national experts recognized the district’s high performance.  The report concludes that the city’s choice system has declined. After the …

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Getting There: Improving Attendance in the Buffalo Public Schools

Rachel Stern — Apr 14, 2015

High rates of absenteeism in the Buffalo Public Schools (“BPS”) are strongly linked to low academic performance and graduation rates.  Several difficult issues contribute to the low attendance in Buffalo, including poverty, segregation, mental and physical health challenges, access to transportation, and problems with school climate and student engagement.  Many effective programs to improve attendance are already in place, but more work needs to be done.  Recent data …

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The Futures Academy Community Garden Project

Center for Urban Studies, UB — Jul 26, 2009

Project Name: Futures Academy Community & Creative Placemaking Initiative This report proposes the creation of the Futures Academy Community Garden in a series of vacant, city-owned parcels across from Buffalo Public School 37.

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