This report discusses school enrollment levels and trends in the population aged 3 and older based on data collected in 2008 by the U.S. Census Bureau in the American Community Survey (ACS) and the Current Population Survey (CPS). This is the second report in a series of reports using both ACS and CPS data to discuss school enrollment. The two…

Over the last several decades, research has questioned the effectiveness of the D.A.R.E.[c] (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program. D.A.R.E.[c] has also experienced cuts based on budget restrictions and personnel reallocations within police agencies, as well as competing demands for classroom time. Although concerted efforts have been made to…

Home language experiences are important for children's development of language and literacy. However, the home language context is complex, especially for Spanish-speaking children in the United States. A child's use of Spanish or English likely ranges along a continuum, influenced by preferences of particular people involved, such as parents,…

Given the importance of federal legislation in combating educational inequities, particularly those in reading development, the identification of specific school-based variables that contribute to reading proficiency for struggling readers is paramount. While federal education policy, such as the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 (2002)…

High levels of aggressive behaviors were observed during the transition times in two selfcontained special education classrooms: a kindergarten and pre-kindergarten. The present case studies examine how modifying the classroom infrastructure impacts students' aggressive behavior. Teachers were assisted on the usage of select modifications (visual…

The purpose of this study was to discover what school leaders considered during the decision-making process when adding a transitional kindergarten program and how the decision was made. This study investigated the decision-making process for superintendents and principals by examining decisions made by rural, suburban, and large school…

For over 100 years, retention has been an intervention used with students who are not performing at expected levels. Despite the lack of evidence that retention is an effective means of improving academic outcomes, retention continues to be used today. Response to Intervention (RTI) is a strategy to provide support to struggling students in an…

This quantitative study examined the perceptions of educational leaders regarding their professional assessments of kindergarten screenings, registrations and educational practices relating to the readiness of children to do school work before they enter kindergarten. This examination finds shared commonalities between educational leaders from a…

Millions of dollars are expended, in the USA and elsewhere, to provide paraprofessionals or "teaching assistants" for regular early childhood classrooms. However, little consistent information exists related to best practice in the use of paraprofessionals in these early childhood settings. This article describes a study employing the use of 159…

Success for All (SFA), one of the best-known school reform models, aims to improve the reading skills of all children but is especially directed at schools that serve large numbers of students from low-income families. First implemented in 1987, SFA combines a challenging reading program, whole-school reform elements, and an emphasis on continuous…

With the increasing number of preschool-age children of Latino heritage entering U.S. schools comes a growing need to accurately determine children's individual needs and identify potential disabilities, beginning with the screening process. Unfortunately, teachers face many challenges when screening English language learners. Often, parents have…

Although standards-based IEP goals have been mandated in many states for almost a decade, their effectiveness is unknown. Standards-based IEP goals were first created to meet the requirements of No Child Left Behind and Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, which increased accountability for all students as well as those with…

The economic status of families and their children's learning outcomes are closely related. For example, children living in poverty tend to score worse on measures of reading and math performance than their more affluent peers, and this achievement gap is present by kindergarten. In this study, we identified protective factors associated with…

Prior research has documented that classroom-level variables have a significant effect on student outcomes; however, previous findings have typically focused on average student outcomes and have only recently begun to use hierarchical linear modeling techniques. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of classroom-level variables on the…

In 2013, the Austin Independent School District began administering a voluntary online exit survey to all professional and administrative employees leaving the district. Responses and respondent characteristics are described for 2014. This is a research brief of a full report (published separately). [For the full report, see ED626497.]