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…

Following the June 2019 Democratic presidential debates, school integration has unexpectedly emerged as a serious issue in the campaign. Coincidentally, this debate comes at a time when the National Coalition on School Diversity (NCSD) and a growing school diversity movement both inside and outside government are pushing to remove these last…

The first set of Democratic presidential debates in June brought to the spotlight issues of school diversity and equity, as Senator Kamala Harris asserted the importance of school integration, based on her own experience growing up in Berkeley, California, and criticized Vice President Biden for his anti-busing positions (and collaborations) in…

At Tamassee-Salem Elementary School in South Carolina, teacher Anna Durham likes to have data conferences with her third graders. She creates a simple graph of their MAP® Growth™ interim assessment scores with past and current scores, along with a future goal. She believes talking about goals--and how they will get there together--helps to engage…

This study investigated the impact of a computer-adaptive reading program, Waterford Early Learning (WEL), in an elementary school in Indiana. The study investigated how educational technology, specifically computer-assisted instruction (CAI), would impact the literacy scores of kindergarten students when paired with traditional instruction:…

This study examined the fruit and vegetable intake of a large sample of Alabama school children in elementary schools receiving fifty percent or more free or reduced priced lunch who qualify for the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. The results of this study provide insight as to whether access to a variety of fresh produce, in additional to…

Ready for Kindergarten! Survey (R4K!S) is a readiness assessment of children entering kindergarten about students' knowledge and skills within the first six to ten weeks of school. There are many interpretations of what constitutes "readiness." Vermont's concept of children's readiness is multidimensional; it includes social and…

This exploratory, descriptive study examined trends associated with Kalamazoo Promise (KPromise) student stop out, reenrollment, and persistence to a credential upon reenrollment. For the 2006-2017 cohorts, 78% were retained from first to second year. Inferential models suggested that first-year stop out was mainly correlated to students' high…

Child care centers, Head Start programs, and family child care providers serving young children--as well as after school programs and homeless shelters that reach older children, adults, and families--are supported in providing healthy meals and snacks by reimbursements through the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). Administered by the…

Purpose/Objectives: In 2009, the Smarter Lunchroom Movement (SLM) strategy was created to provide schools across the United States (US) with evidence-based solutions to encourage healthier eating among children. Results, though, are inconsistent with how well this movement impacts school-aged children's healthy food selection and consumption.…

Reading is a fundamental skill which changes the achievement trajectory of students, particularly in low-income communities. Children who cannot read proficiently by the upper elementary grades are at-risk for a multitude of poor outcomes, and disparities in the literacy performance of students from culturally and linguistically diverse…

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…

In partnership with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and 22 San Mateo County school districts, this report and research brief explore the ways in which local students experience housing instability, and how cross-sector strategies can better identify and serve these students. This study considers a rich set of school administrative data, which allow…

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a difference between a student's reading/language arts TCAP scale score and his or her lunch status for students in grades three, four, and five within two school systems in Tennessee. The population consisted of 2,442 students who were in grades three, four, and five during the 2014-2015…