African American and Chicano/Latino American students score 10% or more below European American students on national and local standardized tests. Low-performing students also receive more frequent discipline referrals than their higher performing peers. This study examined teachers' perceived need for training to incorporate culturally…

This study analyzes the academic performance of White students in urban settings, relative to Minority peers, and investigates structural variables that might exacerbate or attenuate differences. The investigation is motivated by and extends qualitative work investigating the experiences of middle school students in Texas (Morris, 2006). Research…

This Information Capsule answers the most frequently asked questions about M-DCPS' academic performance during the 2010-11 school year. M-DCPS earned a performance grade of "B" in 2011 and was only six points short of an "A." Over half of the District's schools (56 percent) earned an "A." In Writing, the percent of…

In current research literature, formative assessment has been identified as having the potential for tracking student progress to ensure high-stakes test preparedness. Formative assessment has several shades of meaning. This study defines it as an ongoing process that utilizes all of the moment-by-moment day-by-day pieces of data that can be…

Analyses examined academic achievement data across third through eighth grades ("N" = 26,474), comparing students identified as homeless or highly mobile (HHM) with other students in the federal free meal program (FM), reduced price meals (RM), or neither (General). Achievement was lower as a function of rising risk status (General…

In this follow-up to "Do High Flyers Maintain Their Altitude? Performance Trends of Top Students," the academic growth of 35,000 elementary and middle school students in 31 states, all of them high achievers within their own schools, were followed over a three-year period. Their achievement scores were matched with their associated…

This report focuses on the extent to which students who are academically far off track in fourth or eighth grade in Kentucky catch up by eighth or eleventh grade. We studied three recent cohorts of Kentucky students whose eighth-grade ACT Explore® scores were more than one standard deviation below the ACT Explore benchmark scores associated with…

Students entering high school in 9th grade face a formidable challenge. The transition to high school from 8th grade brings with it increased risks for all students. For example, students in 9th grade are anywhere from three to five times more likely to fail a class than students in any other grade. Similarly, ninth grade retention rates are…

The achievement gap between middle class white students and black or Hispanic students living in low income households continues to be a persistent problem in education even ten years since the authorization of No Child Left Behind in 2001. This study examined the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme and how students from low income…

Extending the school day through programs that will supplement core courses, such as offering intensive, after-school tutoring or small-group study sessions in reading and mathematics, is one method districts use to boost school performance and narrow educational achievement gaps between students of different racial and economic backgrounds (Redd…

Data is reported as percentages in 4th, 8th, and 12th grades based on proficiency in the subject ("Below Basic," "At Basic," "At Proficient", or "At Advanced"). "Low-income" on this data sheet means students who qualify for the National School Lunch Program. Both math and science data are from 2009…

This fifth annual update on America's high school dropout crisis shows that, for the first time in history, the nation has crossed the 80 percent high school graduation rate threshold and remains on pace, for the second year in a row, to meet the goal of a 90 percent high school graduation rate by the Class of 2020. This report highlights key…

The State Compensatory Education (SCE) program is designed to reduce dropout rates and increase academic performance of students identified as being at-risk of dropping out of school. SCE operates as a funding source to supplement instructional services and offer academic support to students who meet the SCE at-risk criteria established by the…

In response to the mandates of No Child Left Behind, (NCLB), educators across the country struggle to close the gaps between males and females. Some of the physiological differences existing between the male and female brain suggest support for single-gender instruction, which is on the rise within this country as well as other parts of the world.…

This study examined science achievement growth across elementary and middle school and parent school involvement using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 (ECLS-K). The ECLS-K is a nationally representative kindergarten cohort of students from public and private schools who attended full-day or half-day…