Disciplining schoolchildren has led many students down the “school-to-prison-pipeline” because teachers have focused on controlling students rather than instilling problem solving skills. Ross Greene has developed Collaborative Proactive Solutions (CPS), which is a method that trains staff at schools to develop relationships with disruptive kids and help them problem solve. With the CPS method in practice in 2012, Central School has reported fewer students sent to the principal’s office and no suspensions.

At Lowell School in Washington D.C., lessons about climate change don't just appear in science class, but also in most humanities courses. Cognizant of the stress this places on young students, the school has worked with the nonprofit Climate Generation to ensure the curriculum is solutions-oriented.

Consultants have helped public housing pass safety and health inspections by covering up serious issues with temporary walls and cosmetic fixes. “The biggest reason why most properties don’t pass,” says one consultant, is “they just don’t understand how to play the game with the points.”

Montana hired a former insurance industry worker to administer its health plan. She had a new strategy: simply tell the hospitals what the state would pay and also require a full accounting of drug costs. None of the hospitals have reported struggling after lowering costs.

GoodKids MadCity, an anti-gun violence group that is led by black and brown youth in Chicago is working to create a safer community. Members, most of whom have been directly impacted by gun violence, work together to address the systemic drivers of gun violence in their city, including poverty, trauma, and lack of safe spaces. They do so by creating a community for themselves and by engaging politically – pushing local lawmakers to address the systemic drivers they’ve identified.

In San Diego, California, more than three Gun Violence Restraining Orders, or “red flag laws,” have been used to prevent gun violence. These laws have gained in popularity across the country, and allow courts to temporarily take away firearms from individuals who pose a danger to themselves or others. With such success in San Diego, their attorney’s office is now training law enforcement and government agencies across the state on how to use such orders.

Across the United States, gun violence prevention initiatives are finally turning their attention to the urban communities hit hardest and supporting community-driven approaches. In the past, financial support has gone to linear, legislative approaches to gun control that often favor white communities, but the tides are turning. Funding has shifted to focus on initiatives that provide trauma recovery centers, hospital-based centers, and programs that provide communities hit the hardest with mentorship, job training, and therapy – all initiatives that have proven to help break the cycle of gun violence.

Denver has formed a law enforcement collaborative, called the Regional Anti Violence Enforcement Network (RAVEN), to bring together eleven agencies to solve gun crimes in the surrounding cities and counties. RAVEN was borne out of Denver’s Crime Gun Intelligence Center – an earlier collaboration – and uses the National Integrated Ballistics Information Network to share information, technology and resources, and identify regional patterns of crimes rather than local, isolated events.

States and the U.S. Congress have set aside billions to compensate victims of crime to help with things like medical bills, relocation costs and counseling, but because of the numerous restrictions on applying for the funds and misconceptions about them, many victims never get help. There are efforts by some states and a police chiefs association to improve access to the money and fund programs offering trauma recovery and assistance in applying for compensation, but many gaps remain.

In its four years of community outreach, Cure Violence’s New York City chapter has been accepted and welcomed by both neighborhoods and police. The program now works in 17 police precincts, providing direct violence intervention, legal and mental health resources, and improving police/community relations.

Tyrone Shoemake is an advocate for people who use wheelchairs for mobility—especially those who are victims of gunshot wounds, like him. When an online video of Shoemake doing pull-ups from his chair went viral, he kept the momentum growing with outreach to those he hopes to empower.

Spurred by three suicides in one week in New Hampshire, a gun store owner launched the Gun Shop Project to educate more firearm sellers and others on how to spot suicidal customers. Many other gun sellers joined the effort in that state and it has expanded slowly in some other states, but it has also met pushback. Some owners feel they aren't qualified to assess mental health conditions and others fear it's another way to implement more gun control laws.

An initiative in House schools that gives students access to the arts in the classroom has positively affected students' ability to concentrate, write, and even show compassion to one another. The initiative, known as the Houston Arts Access Initiative, encourages schools to provide exposure to dance, music, and visual arts to encourage creative and kind interaction.

International Baccalaureate programs have traditionally been associated with elite boarding schools. But Chicago Public Schools, IB's biggest North American customer, is quickly changing that perception. IB’s founders “would never have imagined in their wildest dreams that the people that benefit most from it seem to be kids in urban schools,” said Paul Campbell, who heads up regional development in the Americas. Other urban districts are learning from Chicago's successes and efforts to build an effective elementary school pipeline to the diploma program.

To combat low retention rates and short training times for new educators, the University of Michigan - along with other programs around the country - are testing models for teacher education based off training for doctors. With the new approach, new teachers continue to receive personalized training and mentorship from veteran teachers throughout their early career instead of being "thrown into" their first classroom after only a semester of student-teaching.

Detroit implemented the Montessori Method at several public schools, despite funding constraints. The program has attracted families that might otherwise look to the suburbs and private schools for education. It has resulted in more diverse classrooms and more opportunities for students.

Washington state is piloting an initiative to increase access to legal aid for low-income folks. For civil issues such as divorces or evictions, the state has “legal technicians,” which are licensed professionals who fall between attorneys and paralegals. Legal technicians offer services for a fraction of the cost. Other states are looking to scale the solution, such as Utah and Oregon, but there is also some pushback from attorneys’ groups.

More states eye virtual reality to help inmates, jailed since they were teenagers, adapt to a very different world. Since a Supreme Court decision mandated the release of nearly 2,000 inmates sentenced as juveniles to life without parole, states have grappled with how to prepare them, and Pennsylvania turned to VR. Colorado followed suit and others are interested in the potential, but critics warn much more is needed to help juvenile lifers navigate the world as adults.

A pilot program in Connecticut for young offenders matches them with older inmates as mentors who help them confront their pasts and the underlying reasons they’re in prison. They learn new life skills and personal money management as part of a growing trend to use neuroscience to inform incarceration of young adults. The program is based on prisons in Germany and two other states are setting up similar pilots, but no data is yet available on whether the approach reduces recidivism.

Using the catalyst approach, Judge Thelton Henderson was able to reform California prisons. He employed courts to change bureaucratic systems, and was moved by the idea that if you “encourage everyone involved to buy into a solution.. long-term change will happen.” Coupled with court orders, Henderson oversaw lawsuits involving overcrowding and inadequate medical services in prisons. A move that led to statewide change.

Public defender systems across the country are underfunded and understaffed. Viewed by progressives as a racial and class inequality problem, the issue is gaining major traction in red states under a different framing: defense against government tyranny. “If there’s one thing the government must get right,” said conservative lawmaker Tom McMillin, “it’s whether or not we’re locking up the right people.”

Cities in the U.S. have decreased recidivism through specialized courts for firearm offenders. These efforts, however, have not helped overall gun violence, so university research is suggesting new tactics.

One year after first adopting a restorative justice approach to discipline, a Texas school decreased suspensions from 94 to 47. While students are enthusiastic about the change, teachers have been more reluctant to buy in, citing insufficient class time as the major barrier.

The government wants more farmers turning waste methane into biogas to help combat the negative effects of global climate change. California is leading the initiative, largely through a cap-and-trade program.

For undocumented youth who commute between El Paso, Texas and Juárez, Mexico for school, finding a community to connect with and feel safe in is especially challenging. The Christian youth organization Young Life is there to fill that gap in immigrant students' lives by offering emotional and spiritual guidance as well as a support system that deals with any and all issues that arise, whether citizenship-related or not. The group has mentored hundreds of high school students whose lives straddle the border over the years, and many of those credit the group with helping them make sense of their "messy" lives.

Opioid addiction has increased throughout the United States. A clinic in San Francisco has been offering an opioid replacement drug called buphrenorphine to help wean addicts away from opioids. The clinic’s success at healing addicts has served as a model for clinics in other cities around the country.

A new tool that studies human behavioral data is being piloted in an effort to prevent police abuse and violence. Using data kept by individual police departments, this new program studies officers’ history of past problems, amount of on-the-job stress and trauma, and shift times as possible predictors of violence and abuse. While the research is still in early stages, it has already led to changes in some police departments, like re-thinking how to better equip officers to deal with emotional incidents like domestic violence.

After a documentary brought to light the prevalence of sexual assault experiences by women janitors, a California janitors union decided it was going to do something about the issue. Women leaders within the union convinced leadership to take on the issue, got a state representative to sponsor a bill to curb sexual harassment in the janitorial industry, and workers held a hunger strike at the state capitol. Every janitor must now have "anti-sexual harassment training," and employers must integrate the law into practice in order to do business.

Oklahoma currently locks up more women than any other state in the country, incarcerating females at more than double the national rate, and harshly deals out ever-longer sentences to prisoners, disproportionately targeting poor women and those of color. Tulsa is the one exception, thanks to a charitably-funded, intensive programs like The Education and Employment Ministry and Women in Recovery, which combine shorter prison terms with rehabilitative treatment and supportive probation, including drug addiction recovery, employment assistance, and life skills classes.

The California Legislature, inspired by a decades-old Massachusetts affordable housing bill, recently passed SB 35. However, a few differences distinguish the two bills. In Massachusetts, the 40B bill fast-tracks development projects that include 20% affordable units in cities that have below the mandated amount of affordable housing. California’s bill rewards affordable housing projects, but it also rewards projects with above-average income housing. Still, the bill is a big step forward in the fight for more affordable housing at the state level.

Stockton, California is known as one of the most dangerous cities in the state, making the police department one of the most overburdened departments as well. That hasn't deterred the department from taking steps to change police culture by implementing programs such as a wellness network that aims to reduce officer PTSD.

Overfarming, over-grazing, climate change and population growth are all to blame for turning Duolun County in China's Inner Mongolia region into a bigger desert than it was to begin with. With 87 percent of the area turned into desert, sandstorms began to be the norm and would often engulf the neighboring region of Beijing. The Duolun project attempts to stop this by embarking on a tree-planting mission. Not without it's limitations and criticisms, this solution is by no means perfect, but it's somewhat of a start that has seen Duolun reportedly increase to 31 percent forested land.

Medical care for the homeless used to be served only in a hospital emergency room, where patients were released before fully-recovered and often needed to return multiple times for treatment. San Francisco’s Respite program offers medical care to the sickest of the homeless population who frequent the emergency room. Statistics show that people who use the Respite program are less likely to need further treatment at the emergency room and former patients have praised it as a lifesaver.

Research has shown there are concrete steps journalists can take to thoughtful cover mass shootings in a way that doesn’t spur the motives of potential copycats. These include reducing the amount a shooter is named, running articles without including a picture of the shooter, and avoidance of certain words to describe the event.

After Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc on the city, Hoboken, New Jersey decided to rebuild the city with climate change and increased flood risks in mind, rather than returning to "normal." With the help of federal funding - and their relatively well-off tax base - Hoboken is joining other East Coast cities in building climate resilient cities.

When the coal-powered Huntley Generating Station began to shut down, the livelihood of the local community in Tonawanda was greatly threatened; numerous jobs were at stake and looming impacts on the town's largest tax revenue stream meant shuttering schools and choking public services. Local community members organized and, through tenacity and frugal reallocation of resources, diverse groups - including labor unions, politicians, and environmental activists - joined forces in creating a way to sustain and revitalize their community beyond coal.

Unlike other countries suffering with an impoverished population, Costa Rica has not destroyed the environment while modernizing its economy. Costa Rica has created a coffee alliance, a collective effort between the government and local farmers to grow and cultivate sustainable coffee agriculture through public policy and land distribution. The coffee alliance has given economic empowerment to the people, while being environmentally green.

When Chicago raised the fee for not having a vehicle sticker, the move seemed like a way to raise revenue without punishing compliant drivers. But now, thanks in part to racial disparities in policing, thousands of mostly black people are going bankrupt due to ticket debt.

Thanks to an agreement between the U.S. government and a consortium of companies including Intuit and H&R Block, 70 percent of taxpayers are supposed to have access to free online tax preparation services. But Free File is confusing and poorly publicized. Only about 3 percent of eligible tax returns over the last 16 years used the system.

The state of Arkansas cares deeply about the wellbeing of its students, as evidenced by its flourishing system of alternative schools that provide extra counseling in academics, social and mental support, and research-backed techniques that reduce bad behavior, poor grades, and absenteeism. The schools even work to dismantle the taboo around alternative schools, presenting them as an intervention rather than a punishment. The introduction of these schools correlates with a decline in Arkansas' overall dropout rate from 2002 to 2012, and nearly 10% of its graduates have spent time in alternative education.

Risk assessments are supposed to make the criminal justice system better by predicting which defendants are likely to commit new crimes. Defendant scores are given to judges during criminal sentencing in nine states, and there’s a push to mandate their use in federal prisons. But the risk assessments aren’t accurate, only somewhat more reliable than a coin flip. Black defendants are falsely flagged as future criminals at a high rate while white defendants regularly get mislabeled as low risk.

In a hot housing market like Berkeley, CA, it can be hard for students to find affordable apartments. At the same time, spare rooms often sit unoccupied in the nearby homes of retired UC Berkeley faculty and affiliates. As one possible solution, a pilot program is testing out intergenerational living, pairing students with retirees who are willing to open up their homes at a discounted rate.

Every state in the U.S. has a compensation fund to help those who experience crime with expenses like medical and dental bills and counseling. However many of the funds go untapped because victims don't know about them or are confused by the process of applying. Injuries from gunshots can be particularly challenging and expensive to deal with, so this guide offers basic steps on how to do apply for help and what kind of documentation victims need to provide.

Research shows that higher rates of gun ownership lead to higher rates of violent crime - countless examples in the continental United States seem to support this. But Hawaii, with some of the highest gun sale numbers in the country, has rock-bottom gun violence rates - universal background checks and the natural ocean barrier that discourages smuggling are just some of the ways they've achieved this.

Patients who come to a hospital for gunshot wounds are more likely to suffer another gun injury or commit a crime. To stop this cycle, a hospital in Seattle pairs patients with social workers who follow up with patients, an approach that mirrors substance abuse intervention programs.

Landed, a philanthropic for-profit organization, has loaned money to 90 Colorado school district employees for down payments on homes. This funding fills a pressing gap - in Denver, the average home goes for over half a million dollars while the average teacher is paid an annual salary of $57,000. As Landed expands to 14 new Colorado districts, it stands out from similar initiatives for its generous down payment loans and focus on securing teachers permanent housing instead of rental units.

Teachers and administrators are using text messages and free food and toiletries to spread the word about the state's need-based preschool grants. Advocates report that these strategies have proven successful in reaching and recruiting families in previously untapped rural counties.

For the past decade, Colorado's preschools have used external coaches to improve quality of instruction in early childcare education classrooms. To address the high cost of this one-on-one approach, the Denver Preschool Program has launched a program to allow teachers to earn credentials to mentor their own colleagues.

In Colorado, more than half of young children rely on extended family members and neighbors for child care. In an effort to recognize this invisible labor force, which often includes undocumented immigrants, Providers Advancing Student Outcomes offers grant-funded courses to caregivers, legitimizing and enhancing their credibility and improving student outcomes in the process.

Around the country, states like California, New Jersey, and Maryland are implementing legislation that eliminates the cash bail system. While this is one way of addressing that system’s growing unpopularity, New York City has recognized a different approach. By taking advantage of a growing cultural shift in how individuals think about bail, jail time, and criminal justice reform at large, the city has seen an organic decrease in the use of cash bail within courtrooms and judges’ decisions.

In California, the highest poverty rate also corresponds with an alarmingly high rate of tooth decay in children. Now, state officials are working to pilot changes to Denti-Cal, which is part of California's health program for low-income residents; so far, they've budgeted more than $200 million more for rate increases and recruited hundreds more dentists. Those changes and a focus on prevention are helping children get the dental care they need.

The Rio Grande River, which provides water to 6 million people and irrigates 2 million acres of farmland, is one of many transnational sources of water imperiled by climate change. Indeed, many states and countries that share water are drawn into conflict over dwindling resources. One relationship between officials in Mexico and the U.S. offers some hope that (with the right coaching) countries can cooperate, even in the face of greater political problems.

Three Part Series, "America Beyond Detention": For decades, immigrant advocates have argued that the federal government should increase the use of residential shelters - like Casa Marianella in Austin - as an alternative to detention. The shelters are generally less expensive, treat immigrants more humanely, and are better equipped to integrate people into their new communities.

In 2017, Alabama was one of only three states to meet all 10 of the national recognized benchmarks for preschool quality. The state credits bipartisan support, a low teacher-to-student ratio, and high teacher salaries and credential requirements for its recent improvements. “We hoped that quality preschool would benefit the most at-risk students,” the head of the Alabama School Readiness Alliance says. “It’s surpassed our expectations.”

Rural areas are known for requiring tourists to rent a car in order to move around, which can be a significant added expense. But Aspen has developed a bus system that can bring residents or tourists from Aspen to suburban areas and back, and the area is also well geared to bicycle use.

While policing initiatives have previously been driven by intuitive responses to trends in violent crime, the Centre for Evidence-Based Crime Policy at George Mason University has developed a new strategy for identifying the effectiveness of policing practices. With a focus on empirical evidence-based approaches to crime prevention, the Centre has identified large-scale initiatives that work.

New York City will likely phase out its controversial and longstanding gifted and talented programs and shift towards an approach called "schoolwide enrichment models," which are already used in some of the city's schools. In these programs, teachers identify students' interests and develop related units or electives.

Schools in Denver's suburbs are reducing out-of-school suspensions by training teachers to use restorative justice practices and teach students social-emotional skills. Now, a new bill proposes limiting out-of-school suspensions for students statewide.

In Chicago, as in other cities, the definition and reality of "career education" is changing quickly - "This program is for any young person who wants to have some employability skills before they graduate from high school," whether that means the next step is college or career. For instance, the pre-law program at Mather High School offers students both time and guidance to complete college applications as well as a base with which to launch a career in law enforcement.

A school district in Indianapolis may have found one potential solution to the persistent teacher retention and diversity issue. Non-licensed school staff members and aides can now enroll in 18 months of night classes to earn their full teaching credentials. Homegrown teacher programs in other states have proven more likely to attract non-white candidates to the profession than traditional training paths.

When treating opioid addiction, the typical approach is medication in conjunction with mandatory therapy sessions and a myriad of other check-ins. Realizing that this method was failing many people that were not able to make these sessions, some clinics are reversing the approach by focusing on a medication-first approach.

New York City plans to close the eight jail complex located on Rikers Island and replace it with a series of four smaller, community-integrated facilities in the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. While the administration has faced community pushback, the city has gleaned insights about the process, including jail reform and design and how to receive feedback from the community. The goal is for this plan could lead to further decarceration, financial savings for the city, and facilities that incorporate job-training, substance abuse treatment, and counseling into its services.

Across the United States, district attorney’s are creating blacklists, or “do not call” lists, of police officers that have allegedly lied, abused their power, or have been corrupted. The purpose is to prevent untrustworthy sources from testifying in court, allowing city prosecutors to build stronger cases. While many police departments and unions have opposed such lists, calling them unfair and subjective, prosecutors and communities have supported their use as a response to police misconduct.

Under a large grant St. Louis County is working to reduce jail confinements in the aftermath of the Michael Brown shooting, following several national models. There is also progress toward reducing fines and fees for small issues, with a focus on addressing racial disparities in arrests. But the efforts face challenges that include thousands of outstanding warrants under the old system and a shortage of public defenders.

A nonprofit in Charleston, South Carolina, uses cognitive behavioral therapy to help formerly incarcerated men shift their mindsets in order to meet the hefty challenges they face re-entering society. Turning Leaf Project actually pays students to take at least 150 hours of CBT and connects them to entry-level jobs in the city and county. So far participants have stayed out of prison, but keeping students in the program is challenging.

1,875 cameras and 915 microphones is what it took to change a culture of abuse in Attica State Prison, notoriously known as one of the worst places to serve time in amongst prisoners. Since the installation of the cameras, incident reports against corrections officers dropped 80 percent.

Gun crimes with no leads can torment police investigators and agitate communities. NIBIN is a database that tracks the unique marks that guns leave on shell casings, showing whether that same gun was used in another crime or could lead to evidence.

In the United States, the incarcerated feel like they have no voices and their mistakes that led them to jail go unacknowledged. A documentary film spotlights the IF Project, a writing program that encourages female inmates and recently released felons to write down what they would have done to change the path they went on. With police and teachers as mentors, the convicted have support transitioning into society and can reflect on what they can do to change their lives for the better.

The U.S. prison population is aging, which is costly because older inmates need more care. Some states have responded by creating special wards, having the young inmates care for the old, or building nursing homes.

The night shift janitor is an easy target. Working in isolation, cleaners across the country say they have been harassed, assaulted and raped by supervisors and co-workers while tidying office buildings, shopping malls and universities, as our investigation exposed.

As jobs in America's coal mines dwindle, local Appalachian communities put resources and opportunity into the sustainable energy business. A nonprofit in Kentucky called the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development bridges the gap between the two industries by providing sustainable energy training and internships for former employees of the coal mining industry.

In wildfire-prone Nevada County, California, community squads that do controlled burns are on the rise. According to the Nevada County fire council, some 23 associations are active, while about 50 more are forming. By reducing wildfire "ladder fuel," these local groups can reduce the severity of future wildfires, all while protecting their homes.

The Kansas City neighborhood of Ivanhoe was once plagued by blight, illegal dumping, drug trade, gun violence, and neglect; neighbors lived in fear or moved away. Inspired by one compassionate and proactive family, the Youngs, the community stepped up, partnering with the local university and a charitable foundation to map out a tangible blueprint for sustainable change. They are working with police and the city council to tackle the blight and revive their neighborhood through affordable housing, park space, and a renewed sense of community.

There is an ongoing competition to improve batteries as a method of energy storage that is environmentally conscious. Intense research on batteries is ongoing, including the development of the "saltwater battery', in order to improve their reliability, storage abilities and safety.

In Conservative voting bastions of Florida, renewable energy turns out to be a bipartisan issue, supported even by the most Republican areas. The success of renewable energy was possible by listening to Floridians needs, avoiding partisan rhetoric, identifying a common problem, and relying on grassroots organizing.

To combat racial disparities in maternal health care, New York is funding a partnership program between the city and communities to improve maternal healthcare for women of color. Both public and private hospitals will implement implicit bias training and the city will work to improve its data collection. Hospitals will also receive funds for health coordinators to make sure women are accessing care.

An international effort to supply developing countries with low-pollution cookstoves fell short. Efforts failed to consider to what degree their new stoves really solved the problem—and whether or not people would actually use them.

Finding campaign supporters can get creative in the age of social media. Arizona democrat Hiral Tipirneni solicited donations from Facebook users who liked the pages of liberal icons Elizabeth Warren and Kirsten Gillibrand, as well as organizations that support liberal causes such as Planned Parenthood and Emily’s List. Tipirneni lost the special election she ran in, but she did better than Democrats have previously in her area.

U.S. hospitals waste an estimated $765 billion every year (National Academy of Medicine), and a large portion of this is wasted in the form of discarded medical supplies. Usually, these supplies are still in their original packaging and aren't even close to expiring. An organization called Partners for World Health collects these supplies from hospitals near Portland, Maine and ships them to other countries and medical clinics in need.

Instead of filing expensive lawsuits for malpractice, patients who have experienced undue harm in the course of care go through an internal system both compensates victims and allows doctors to learn from their mistakes. By focusing on reducing patient harm, the system in Denmark places emphasis on problem solving rather than creating an adversarial relationship between the patient and the caregiver.

In the U.S. 200 black men are killed with guns for every 3 people killed in a mass shooting. Little federal attention is given to urban violence programs even though there exists an effective deterrence program implemented in various states.

Following a mass shooting in Aurora, IL, lawmakers are introducing legislation that could make it harder for guns to be obtained by those who shouldn’t have them. The legislation proposes requiring fingerprints prior to obtaining a concealed carry license – allowing agencies to conduct more accurate and thorough background checks.

A journalist who has reported for two years on survivors of gunshots offers guidance and advice to others in the media on how to track accurate data on non-fatal gun violence, report empathetically on survivors facing trauma and coping with secondary trauma by hearing these stories. Telling these stories is key to understanding the true scope and impact of gun violence, as well as stories of resilience and hope.

Gunshot victims are often treated at hospitals only to be sent back into the community, where 1/3 will end up back in the hospital again. With a new emphasis on prevention and addressing the underlying issues, Ohio is now using federal assistance to create a Trauma Recovery Network that helps with crisis intervention, counseling, and even providing safe emergency housing for gunshot victims.

Chicago’s Cure Violence program, which has been around for close to 20 years, has closed all but one of its sites. The program employs Violence Interrupters, who work in neighborhoods to help stop violent conflict. As hopeful and successful as its creation was, it has run into cooperative issues with Chicago police and has seen a drastic cut in funding in the last five years.

In 1999, Denver, with the backing of the teachers union, rolled out a merit pay pilot program. Twenty years later, the pay-for-performance system has teachers on the verge of a strike for higher pay. Chalkbeat explores the origin and efficacies of the approach.

Since Chicago Public Schools started using the crowdfunding platform DonorsChoose.org in 2004, educators from 500 schools have collected over $20 million in donations. Most notable is that teachers are not only using the service to cover basic supplies, but are also pitching ideas to support innovative learning approaches such as personalized instruction. According to the company's founder, "We can tap into classroom teachers’ frontline expertise to unleash better targeted, more creative, more innovative, micro solutions than what someone would have come up with from on high."

Students who learn from a teacher who was trained through the UTeach program perform significantly better than those taught by other teachers in the same area. Started a decade ago at the University of Houston, UTeach aims to recruit the next crop of math and science teachers. By integrating lesson planning and teaching experiences into the major offerings, the model allows students to earn a teaching certificate alongside their degree.

The sheriff of Volusia County, Florida, Michael Chitwood, has instituted reform across the conservative county. With a frank and honest demeanor, Chitwood has put into place measures like de-escalation training and requiring officers to keep their body cameras on at all times. While many of his policies receive pushback from fellow officers, the community has responded well to his balance between being tough on crime and providing space for redemption and forgiveness.

In light of recently passed laws to legalize the use of recreational marijuana, California legal clinics have set out to inform those with pot-related convictions that their convictions may be able to be reduced or expunged entirely thanks to a provision of Proposition 64. So far, over 4,000 petitions have been filed throughout the state to both reduce sentences of pot-related convictions and either eliminate or reclassify prior convictions as misdemeanors.

Austin moved away from its teen curfew, bucking the trend in many other cities where such laws are longstanding and efforts to remove them often meet resistance. That is despite data showing they do not reduce juvenile crime or victimization and may foster more mistrust towards the police. Austin has seen a drop in juvenile victimization rates since dumping the ordinance.

A number of states have passed reforms aimed at helping people coming out of incarceration get licenses that are key to well-paying jobs, which in turn help people stay out of prison. But there are still numerous hurdles in other states around criminal histories and background checks that keep people with felony records from entering those professions. Those requirements have cost the economy nearly three million jobs according to one report, and disproportionately affect people of color.

"A social secretary for people who have been deprived of the forms of communication that are now ubiquitous almost everywhere except for prisons," Renea Royster is part of a network of organizations (including Pigeonly, Infolincs, Inmatefone, and Phone Donkey) helping prisoners keep in touch with people on the outside.

Historically, police interrogations of suspects have been brutal and have involved torture. These strategies have also produced a high rate of false confessions. The HIG method, which encourages conversation in a comfortable environment, has shown to be successful in revealing the truth and incarcerating the convicted with confidence.

New programs aim to ease inmates out of years of solitary confinement by passing them through different "stages," each with different behavioral requirements and rewards. It's an approach that allows inmates to gradually gain more control over their lives.

Both incarceration and crime rates are low is Western Europe where the focus in prison is on rehabilitating prisoners so they can return to society. American leaders visited a prison in Germany to consider implementing certain aspects in the United States.

A new high school inside the New Orleans jail gives juvenile detainees the opportunity to earn credits toward graduation, not just a GED, and possibly find a different future. It's showing promise, with three people earning diplomas so far and more passing state exams in English and math. But the challenges are many because students are in a violent jail awaiting adjudication that could mean many more years behind bars.

Chicago suffers from violence and tension between police officers and low-income predominantly Black communities. In 2011, the chief of police consulted with a network of university academics and began implementing “procedural justice,” which was an approach that trained police departments to surmount the lack of confidence that residents felt towards officers. The academics and police chief found that by directing social workers to the homes of at-risk community members, and regarding them with respect, there was a reduction in violence—but now the program has stalled.

A former high school teacher turned researcher found that both high-income and low-income students who attended career and technical education high schools were more likely to graduate than their peers enrolled in strictly academic programs. In this article, the teacher, Mr. Dougherty, explains why is he unsure of all of the reasoning behind his findings and still hesitant to suggest districts scale up the model.

A Colorado nonprofit takes a "place-based" approach to improving student outcomes. By offering wraparound social and educational services, Blocks of Hope aims "to flood a carefully defined geographic area with services in the hopes of touching a critical mass of residents, usually around 60 percent." On its third anniversary, the trumpeted program has started to lose steam, running up against the realities of a gentrifying neighborhood and funding shortages.

To mitigate the pernicious effects of poverty on student success, nonprofit 'Blocks of Hope' in Colorado aims to provide both educational and social services to students and their families, with the goal of leveling the playing field.

Members of the military who are survivors of sexual assault have access to special victims’ counsels to help guide and protect them throughout the legal process. The efforts are still young, and with that comes issues of ill-trained or over-worked legal representation – a criticism that has been made known by advocates. Furthermore, while the existence of such assistance is extremely beneficial to military personnel, the same sort of protection and support isn’t available to civilians who are alleging violent crimes against military members.

Cases of lung cancer dropped in California after the state implemented “early and aggressive anti-smoking initiatives.” By targeting younger communities, taxing cigarettes and starting a tobacco control program, not only did the state see less cases of lung cancer, but also saw huge savings in health care expenses.

Libre by Nexus helps immigrants get out of jail, and makes more than $30 million a year doing it. In exchange for providing collateral to bondsmen, the company charges clients, including asylum seekers in desperate situations, huge upfront fees and a $420 monthly rental charge for a required ankle monitor. Multiple lawsuits accuse the company of profiteering off vulnerable people.

In Alaska, the Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) program, which is meant to provide $1600 to every resident who has lived in Alaska for at least a year, has been proven to reduce poverty and increase quality of life; the program has even been credited for Alaska's status as the state with the second highest income equality in the country. The Fund is meant to disperse wealth from the state's natural resources - but despite it's overall success, decreasing profits from the oil and gas industries has put the Fund in peril as lawmakers cut payments instead of implementing income taxes to generate revenue.

A family in Iowa, living 1,000 miles from the Atlantic Ocean and 1,500 miles from the Pacific Ocean, are paving the way for the future of fish farms. By filling their unused barn with fish tanks, this third-generation Webster City farming family found a solution for successfully and sustainably raise up to 10 million pounds of barramundi per year.

Female sex workers in the United States face greater incidents of rape, drug abuse, health risks, and suicide, contributing to a high mortality rate. Incarcerating the number of prostitutes is also costly. Dallas Police Department has initiated the PDI New Life program, which catches prostitutes and brings them to a 45-day temporary shelter to receive social services, health care, counseling, and alternative employment.

A Minneapolis police department has placed a new focus on equipping its officers with conflict de-escalation techniques. After incorporating communication and listening skills into its training, the department has seen a decrease in the use of force.

After Hurricane Maria devastated much of Puerto Rico, much of the country was left without power and some were subsequently left sick due to fumes from generators. After receiving a call from a relative in his home county, Professor Monxo Lopez of New York City’s Hunter College was determined to create affordable solar for his home country.

Created to “help some of the world’s most vulnerable children get off the street and into school," More Than Me Foundation exposed its students to widespread sexual abuse by an influential staffer. The charity lacked board members and top leadership with experience running schools and resisted being held accountable for the abuse.

Chicago is trying something new when it comes to violence prevention: beautifying public spaces that have been known to be places of violence. The city has launched an official pilot program called Grounds for Peace, which partners with READI Chicago to provide jobs within the initiative to at-risk men. While the effort to beautify has shown a decrease in gun violence in other cities, Chicago residents approach this with caution, as the neighborhoods its working within are often neglected.

In Chicago, community organizations, public officials, and private funders have come together behind a campaign called “<399” – with the goal of bringing homicides to under 400. This collaboration has taken on a comprehensive, community-centered approach that includes initiatives like community outreach, individual support, and mentoring. While they’ve received significant funding from the city, they’re hoping to secure long-term financial and political support from all levels of government.

In Washington, state legislators have passed an innovative measure that would allow individuals to suspend their own gun rights. The bill was started as a proactive measure for those experience mental health issues to be able to prevent themselves from harming themselves in the future. While they’re still working on publicizing the new measure, those that do know about it simply have to fill out a short form at any count clerk’s office – the rest is taken care of within 24 hours.

Scoop and Run is a police practice that has saved lives. During a “scoop and run” police take gunshot or stab wound victims to the emergency room instead of waiting for an ambulance. Philadelphia is the only city, among cities with high rates of homicides, that has implemented “scoop and run” into policy. "Last year, a third of Philadelphia’s 1,223 shooting victims were delivered to a city trauma center.”

The Contra Costa Police Department crime lab has accelerated processing ballistics evidence through a national database that works like fingerprints for guns. The result has been connecting gun violence incidents more quickly and getting dangerous offenders off the streets. The lab’s director was able to do this without extra funding or staff by implementing new protocols and cross-training staff.

For the past four years, several rural Colorado school districts have experimented with alternative forms of evaluation that don't rely solely on the results of educational testing. Now, a proposed bill, with wide support, would provide financial and logistical support to these pilots.

A Memphis charter middle school requires teachers to complete professional development courses on restorative justice practices and the impact of trauma and poverty on student behavior. This year, the school has halved the number of suspensions.

Gus the Bus, Magic Bus, El Busesito, and other traveling classrooms are working to fill the persistent preschool gap in Colorado's childcare deserts. Most days the mobile preschools park near apartment complexes or mobile home parks and offer instruction to neighborhood children. In the coming years, providers hope to be able to use the same quality ratings as stationary schools and expand from rural areas into Denver and other urban centers throughout the state.

Veterans treatment courts were developed in 2008 as a way for veterans to receive mental health counseling and substance abuse treatment rather than face incarceration. Created to address the mental health concerns that can lead to drug abuse and other issues, the courts have not seen the successes that were originally anticipated. Due to little demand, inconvenient locations, and mixed results, experts are calling into question the existence of such specialized courts.

As police departments across the country face a shortage in recruitments, states like Tennessee and Colorado have lifted the ban on non-citizens from becoming officers. As a result, jurisdictions that allow this have not only seen an increase in recruits, but a more diverse force that can represent their communities. Politicians and members of law enforcement across the country seek to do the same.

After San Joaquin County adopted a slew of criminal justice reforms, crime dropped by 20 percent, the lowest number in a decade. One of the things that was implemented were speciality courts aimed at decreasing arrest time and helping “former prisoners find jobs, housing and treatment for mental health and addiction problems.” Other measures include ending cash bail and racial bias training. “Crime has always been issue No. 1, but the narrative in this city is one about being a second chance city.”

Police in New York already use algorithms to fight crime and now they have turned to a tech startup that uses algorithms to gauge trust levels towards citizens. The so-called “sentiment meter” is meant to address where police are falling short with the community and it has garnered the interest of police departments in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Grand Rapids, Mich., as well. But some are skeptical of the data methods and what they are actually measuring.