States' efforts to incorporate technology and engineering into K-12 science instruction appear to be bearing fruit: More than five years after states began adopting K-12 science standards that feature technology and engineering, eighth graders have notched higher scores on a national assessment of those subjects. This Policy Brief presents…

This study applies cumulative adversity and stress proliferation theories to examine risk and protective resource profiles of youth with three different levels of housing and parental care instability. Data derive from a state representative sample (n=27,087) of school-based adolescent students. ANCOVA analyses identified significant differences…

There is a lack of knowledge regarding reading development and predictors of reading development for Language Minority students (LMs) such as Asians. In particular, the research base is limited regarding the effectiveness of different reading instructional emphases for Asian LMs. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether language…

Relationships among bully victimization, bully perpetration, ethnic identity, and subjective well-being (i.e., life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect) were examined in a group of urban, ethnically diverse early adolescents. Indices of subjective well-being correlated with participants' scores on bully victimization and…

This research study attempted to determine if specific variables were related to student performance on the Algebra I subject-area test. This study also sought to determine in which of grades 8, 9, or 10 students performed better on the Algebra I Subject Area Test. This study also investigated the different criteria that are used to schedule…

The racial and ethnic makeup of the United States is in constant flux and is expected to experience substantial increases in racial and ethnic diversity over the next four decades. The problem the American educational system faces is attempting to problematize race/racism in its educational system and creating a system to counteract educational…

This article presents an Exponential Growth Learning Trajectory (EGLT), a trajectory identifying and characterizing middle grade students' initial and developing understanding of exponential growth as a result of an instructional emphasis on covariation. The EGLT explicates students' thinking and learning over time in relation to a set of tasks…

This study investigated the performance of U.S. eighth-grade female and minority students' achievement in learning statistics concepts using the Data and Chance content domain from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study 2007 (TIMSS 2007). Using variables that have been linked to mathematics and statistics achievement in the…

School districts shape the conditions in which schools operate and as such can support or undermine school success and thus student success. All of which is to say that school districts matter. This article looks at the success of two districts whose low-income and minority students beat the odds in academic achievement. Lessons from these…

American discourse is often accused of neglecting the interests and values of rural citizens, and this is particularly true when it comes to education. Rural students and the schools they attend receive little attention in either policy or academia. This report attempts to shed badly needed light on the challenges, and point to policies and…

Homeless children usually experience high mobility. Yet, it is not clear if the degree of mobility among homeless children is associated with their academic performance. Furthermore, an emerging body of literature is beginning to examine the impact of specific living arrangements (e.g., living with families or friends) on homeless family and child…

Many of the more than 700,000 students who leave U.S. high schools each year without a diploma have low literacy skills. More than 60 percent of eighth graders and 60 percent of twelfth graders scored below the "proficient" level in reading achievement according to the most recent administrations of the National Assessment of Educational…

The roughly one-quarter of U.S. eighth graders who score below basic on national assessments of reading are poorly equipped for the reading demands of secondary school. They struggle with summarizing and making text-based inferences (NCES, 2013). Intervention in middle school needs to be comprehensive, both because of the heterogeneity of the…

The present study investigates the relationship between childhood placement in special education and adult well-being among 1,377 low-income, minority children participating in the Chicago Longitudinal Study. Roughly 16% of the sample received special education services in Grades 1 to 8. After accounting for sociodemographic factors and early…

This report features research on Stocks in the Future (SIF), a financial literacy program for middle-grades students. The goals of SIF are to serve underrepresented, socioeconomically disadvantaged students in schools where more than 50% are eligible for free/reduced-price meals, achieve stronger student attendance and greater attachment to…