The purpose of this study investigated the role of K-12 education in breaking the cycle of poverty in the Southeastern Public School District, focusing on the relationship between school-level poverty and key student outcomes: (a) graduation rates, (b) job placement, and (c) college acceptance. This study assessed the timing of federal-, state-,…

The American School District Panel (ASDP) is the newest addition to the RAND Corporation's American Educator Panels (AEP), which are designed to survey panels of educators several times each year. RAND recruits AEP members using probabilistic sampling methods, which allow researchers to weight survey results to generalize to the national…

Background: We gathered baseline data about student need of healthy, free school food, and if current school meal programming serves students in need of healthy free school food, in anticipation of the completion of a district-wide kitchen infrastructure and educational farm project in a high-poverty urban school district. Methods: We used mixed…

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether or not a child's chronological age at the onset of kindergarten influences foundational literacy skills and if there is an impact on long-term reading achievement. Research indicates that there are several factors that influence school readiness and the foundational literacy skills that must be…

Growing up in poverty increases youth risk for developing aggressive behavior problems which, in turn, are associated with a host of problematic outcomes, including school drop-out, substance use, mental health problems, and delinquency. In part, this may be due to exposure to adverse school contexts that create socialization influences supporting…

Socioeconomic status and gender are important demographic variables that strongly relate to academic achievement. This study examined the early literacy skills differences between 4 sociodemographic groups, namely, boys ineligible for free or reduced-price lunch (FRL), girls ineligible for FRL, boys eligible for FRL, and girls eligible for FRL.…

Students who come from low-income backgrounds tend to be underidentified and underserved in gifted education. Early interventions with learners of high potential from underserved groups, including exposure to challenging curriculum and summer opportunities, are important for nurturing these students' talents and preparing them for advanced…

Since 1997, Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) has published the Newark Kids Count Data Book, a one-stop source for child well-being data on the state's largest city. Newark Kids Count includes the latest statistics, along with five-year trend data, in the following areas: demographics, family economic security, child health, child…

The 2021 "KIDS COUNT in Colorado!" report examines how children fared during the first year of the COVID-19 crisis. The data included in the report illustrate the pandemic's far-reaching effects on Colorado kids, from increased housing instability and hunger to difficulty accessing health care, child care, preschool and K-12 education.…

"Paterson Kids Count" is a statistical profile of the well-being of Paterson children in critical areas, such as poverty, health and nutrition. This second edition also documents the success of a data-driven, collective local effort in three key areas that were targeted for sustained advocacy and attention: (1) low school breakfast…

This year's KIDS COUNT report delves into disparities in child well-being based on race and ethnicity in an effort to shine a light on issues where Colorado can and must do better at creating equitable opportunities for children. The disparities seen in many areas of child well-being did not just happen by coincidence; nor are they the result of…

For more than 20 years, Advocates for Children of New Jersey has published the Newark Kids Count Data Book, a one-stop source for child well-being data on the state's largest city. Newark Kids Count includes the latest statistics, along with five-year trend data, in the following areas: demographics, family economic security, food insecurity,…

Reading comprehension, defined as the active extraction and construction of meaning from all kinds of text, requires children to fluently decode and understand what they are reading. Basic processes underlying reading comprehension are complex and call on the oral language system and a conscious understanding of this system, i.e., metalinguistic…

For more than 20 years, Advocates for Children of New Jersey has published the Newark Kids Count Data Book, a one-stop source for child well-being data on the state's largest city. Newark Kids Count includes the latest statistics, along with five-year trend data, in the following areas: demographics, family economic security, food insecurity,…

The authors investigated whether age at kindergarten entry was associated with early literacy achievement gaps and if these gaps persisted over time. Using the kindergarten age eligibility cutoff date, they created 2 groups of students who represented the oldest and youngest children in a cohort of students in high-poverty, low-performing schools.…