Four-day school weeks are becoming increasingly common in the U.S., but their effect on achievement is not well-understood. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we conduct the most representative student-level analysis to date of the effects of four-day weeks on student achievement and within-year growth using NWEA MAP Growth data. We…

Summer programming is one of the main ways school districts have sought to help students recover academically from COVID-19 pandemic-related setbacks. Authors use a survey administered to a nationally representative sample of kindergarten through grade 12 public school districts to investigate the prevalence and structure of districts' programming…

Conducted for Arnold Ventures by Abt Associates, the "New Mexico Charter School Study: Findings Report" collates the results of Abt's evaluation of numerous charter schools in the state, several of which employ a whole-school dual language model. The study also created multiple logic models for use by practitioners, policymakers, and…

The pandemic affected the lives and social-emotional experiences of every student to some extent. Along with the unprecedented closures of schools across the country in March 2020, virtually all social activities ceased. Students were cut off from their teachers, with uneven access to live instruction and hands-on, collaborative learning. There…

Educators and students in schools across the United States have faced sweeping, unprecedented changes to teaching and learning as a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which shuttered school buildings in spring 2020. This Data Note offers teachers' and principals' perspectives on some of those changes and presents their…

This fifth annual High School Benchmarks Report provides the most updated data on high school graduates' college access, persistence, and completion outcomes. The report was designed with several features particularly tailored to secondary practitioners and policymakers. First, results presented in this report were based on the most up-to-date…

This third annual High School Benchmarks report provides new data on high school graduates' college access, persistence, and completion outcomes. Many schools and districts have access to timely reports on the college access and persistence rates of their own graduates through the StudentTracker? service of the National Student Clearinghouse. The…

This second annual report provides high school-to-college transition rates for graduates of public non-charter, public charter, and private high schools. For students of public non-charter high schools the rates are reported in 12 categories based on the school-level demographic and geographic characteristics. This timely and comprehensive data is…

As of the writing of this report, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are being implemented in 45 states and the District of Columbia. Approaches to implementing the standards, however, are highly varied. For the past 3 years, Research For Action (RFA) has been tracking how one approach to implementing the literacy standards--the Literacy…

"Start Where You Are, But Don't Stay There" addresses a crucial issue in teacher training and professional education: the need to prepare pre-service and in-service teachers for the racially diverse student populations in their classrooms. A down-to-earth book, it aims to help practitioners develop insights and skills for successfully educating…

Equipping youth with and without disabilities for the world of work has been the focus of ongoing legislative and policy initiatives. The authors examined the extent to which career development and vocational activities were available to and accessed by youth with severe disabilities or emotional and behavioral disorders attending 34 urban,…

Suburban high school administrators should attempt to open lines of communication and cooperation between their schools and inner-city high schools. The quality of inner-city high schools has deteriorated in recent decades due to a variety of reasons; however, this does not mean that they should be ignored. There is still much that is worthwhile…

This study involving 113 students identified factors (attentiveness, child's level of involvement, and feedback received from the teacher) differentiating children at risk for special education referral from other low achievers and low achievers from mainstreamed special education students and average achievers. Urban/suburban differences were…

A survey of 298 teachers found a relationship between burnout and teachers' perceptions of support from administrators and parents. It also found differing perceptions of support by teachers in urban, rural, and suburban locales. Results suggest the need for special education administrators to provide explicit support for special education…

This book examines educators' norms, beliefs, and values in case studies of three "improving" high schools. The distinction between "sacred" and "profane" norms in the teaching profession is applied to the relationships among school culture, improvement efforts, and the effectiveness of change strategies. Schools'…