Charter schools continue to expand, particularly in urban communities. To critique the civic side of charter schools, we applied Wilson's counter-public framework from a macro level to analyze the 2014 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)- Civics results. We employed a multilevel regression model to ascertain whether Black and…

Within the secondary level of education covering students in grades 6-12, reading comprehension continues to be an area of concern for traditional public-school educators. Because students lack the foundations of reading upon entering middle and high school, on average across the United States, many students struggle to meet high school graduation…

Universal screening continues to be a missed opportunity for addressing mental health in schools. The current study compared three separate self-report screening tools: the Behavior Assessment System for Children-Third Edition: Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BASC-3 BESS), Youth Internalizing and Externalizing Problems Screener (YIEPS),…

This article describes the process used to develop a new measure of college knowledge and the findings from an initial study to examine the measure's construct validity. We employed common test construction (item response theory, classical test theory) and factor analytic (exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis) approaches to…

Ethnic-racial socialization describes messages and practices that teach youth about their racial and/or ethnic group membership and the role of race in society. Despite a wealth of research on families, little work has considered school socialization practices. The current article uses a framework of school racial socialization to explore six…

Executive functions (EFs) show promise as important mediators of adolescent academic performance. However, the expense of measuring EFs accurately has restricted most field-based research on them to smaller, non-longitudinal studies of homogeneous populations with specific diagnoses. We therefore monitored the development of 259 diverse, at-risk…

The Kauffman School is a public, tuition-free charter school serving Kansas City students. In the 2019-20 school year, the school enrolled 1,186 students in grades 5 through 12. Most (88 percent) of the students were low income, and 89 percent were Black or Hispanic. To measure the impact of the Kauffman School on its students, the authors…

In 2017 Georgia instituted a flexibility policy through which school districts enter into performance contracts with the state that grant districts waivers from state rules and allow schools and districts greater autonomy. In exchange, schools and districts must meet academic performance targets. The performance contracts are intended to…

Algebra is critical to high school graduation and college success, but student achievement in algebra frequently falls significantly below expected proficiency levels. While existing research emphasizes the importance of quality algebra instruction, there is little research about how to conduct problem analysis for struggling secondary students.…

"Green Dot Public Schools" is a nonprofit organization that operates more than 20 public charter middle and high schools in California, Tennessee, and Washington. The "Green Dot Public Schools" model emphasizes high quality teaching, strong school leadership, a curriculum that prepares students for college, and partnerships…

Studies consistently show that Catholic schools produce positive impacts on educational outcomes. Many charter school networks in the United States now provide, what are essentially, secularized versions of the Catholic education model. However, charter schools cannot legally replicate the overt religious curriculum and mission of Catholic…

A growing number of adolescents are taking all or most of their courses online. This places a greater responsibility on parents to support and facilitate their students' learning. This case study used teacher surveys and interviews to better understand how teachers perceived and supported parents' attempts to support their online students at a…

This data snapshot is a second report in a two-part series, "Newark Kids Count Data Snapshot: The Impact of COVID-19." In 2021, data releases from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as well as the U.S. Census Bureau, have demonstrated the ways in which college students have shifted their educational plans as a result of COVID-19. This…

This research aimed to examine students' perceptions of their life skills while attending project-based learning (PBL) schools. The study focused on three questions including: (1) What are students' perceptions of their development of life skills in project-based learning schools?; (2) In what ways, if any, do students perceive an increase in…

In 2007 Georgia instituted a flexibility policy through which school districts enter into performance contracts with the state, receiving waivers from state rules, provisions, and guidelines in exchange for agreeing to meet annual accountability targets. The performance contracts are intended to incentivize innovations that increase achievement…