Noncognitive constructs such as self-efficacy, social awareness, and academic engagement are widely acknowledged as critical components of human capital, but systematic data collection on such skills in school systems is complicated by conceptual ambiguities, measurement challenges and resource constraints. This study addresses this issue by…

Guided by the theory of intersectionality and social identity theory, this study examined the interactive influences of both racial/ethnic majority status and immigrant status on students' school victimization experiences in predominantly Hispanic/Latinx high schools. Participants included 3,176 high school students in Grades 9 to 12 from four…

States use their accountability systems to identify low-performing schools, which can receive added support and are expected to improve. Alternative schools serve students whose needs are not met in a regular school. They often serve at-risk students who are struggling academically or behaviorally. Given this unique population, the Government…

The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education's (WICHE's) ninth edition of "Knocking at the College Door: Projections of High School Graduates," published in December 2016 (revised February 2017), quantified how the demographic changes that are underway with America's youth population will be evidenced in the next 15 years of…

This California study focuses on the economic impact of school suspensions at the district level. Every 10th grade student in California was tracked for three years to determine the degree to which suspensions predicted lower graduation rates at the state and district level. This estimated impact on graduation was then used to calculate the…

This brief provides a demographic snapshot of enrollment in the Continuation High Schools and district-operated Community Day Schools ("alternative schools") for youth over the age of 16 in the following Unified School Districts: (1) Long Beach; (2) Los Angeles; (3) Fresno; (4) Oakland; and (5) San Francisco. Unless otherwise noted,…

California needs 1.1 million more workers with bachelor's degrees by 2030 to keep up with economic demand. More college graduates would mean higher incomes, greater economic mobility, more tax revenue, and less demand for social services. In addressing this projected shortfall, three regions will play an especially critical role: Los Angeles…

"Path Not Found: Disparities in Access to Computer Science Courses in California High Schools" exposes one of the foundational causes of underrepresentation in computing: disparities in access to computer science courses in California's public high schools. This report provides new, detailed data on these disparities by student body…

This paper examines how public school teachers take up, modify, or resist the dominant ideology of color-blind racism. This examination is based on in-depth interviews with 60 teachers at three segregated schools: one was race/class privileged and two were disadvantaged. Inductive coding revealed that teachers at each school articulated a shared…

City Year is a learning organization committed to the rigorous evaluation of its "Whole School Whole Child" model, which trains and deploys teams of AmeriCorps members to low-performing, urban schools to empower more students to reach their full potential. A third-party study by Policy Studies Associates (PSA) examined the impact of…

This longitudinal study analyzes survey responses in seventh, eighth, and ninth grade from diverse public school students (n = 482) to explore gender differences in engineering and science career preferences. Females were far more likely to express interest in a science career (31%) than an engineering career (13%), while the reverse was true for…

The population growth, labor force participation, and educational attainment of Latinos in the U.S. influence the composition of the current and future U.S. society, economy, and workforce. In 2012, the Latino population in the United States is the youngest and fastest growing ethnic group, with the highest level of labor force participation…

California legislature made a policy change with Senate Bill (SB) 1644 (2000), shifting Cal Grant Programs to focus on entitlement; counter to the national trend of merit based grant programs. This article describes a study examining effectiveness and extent to which SB 1644 is meeting its legislative objectives: increase in higher education…

As part of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, Los Angeles OneSource Centers offer low-income youth ages 14-21 services aimed at improving educational achievement, enhancing job skills, and preparing for college. The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the youths' satisfaction with services received at 14 OneSource Centers throughout…

The number of Hispanic students in the nation's public schools nearly doubled from 1990 to 2006, accounting for 60% of the total growth in public school enrollments over that period. Strong growth in Hispanic enrollment is expected to continue for decades, according to population projection by the U.S. Census Bureau. Using data from the 2006…