Growing evidence warns about the detrimental effects of the stress induced by natural disasters on learning outcomes. Yet less is known about how political leadership could mitigate the adverse exposure to these events. Exploiting a natural experiment--the massive 2010 earthquake in Chile--as an exogenous shock and using fine-grained student data,…

In this paper, we discuss the design and development of an eBook titled "Building Democracy for All: Interactive Explorations of Government and Civic Life," which serves as an open educational resource for the eighth-grade Massachusetts social studies curriculum standards. This design case offers an example of an interactive,…

The Project Citizen Research Program (PCRP) was a three-year research initiative that evaluated the effectiveness of the Center's Project Citizen teacher professional development (PD) program and curriculum intervention for middle and high school students. The program took place over three academic years that were impacted by the COVID-19…

The social studies curriculum travels through time and space and is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. To an outsider, the social studies curriculum is a single line on a program of studies, 45 minutes of a student's school day. Those on the inside, however, know that the field covers history, geography, civics, economics, and much…

This dissertation focuses on the perceptions that young people have of federal government websites and of the U.S. government, as well as exploring possible connections between the perceptions of government and government websites. Not only is this a virtually unstudied area of e-government and youth information behavior, but it is also of…

Many policies and initiatives have been proposed or implemented to address the unique needs of military families who face special challenges while supporting the service of their military member(s). Some of those policies and initiatives have sought to focus on military-connected children (MCCs) and the particular academic challenges they face.…

For the United States to compete in a global knowledge economy, high schools need to improve dramatically. Young people leave high school without the advanced reading and writing skills required for career and college success. Beginning in the 1980s, reports such as "A Nation at Risk" documented the links between education, reading and…

With the adoption of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in 2002, the federal government signaled its intention to close achievement gaps in K-12 education, particularly for minority students. While there has been surprising progress in educating disadvantaged students since the law was passed, according to a new report released today by Education…

Background: Food service directors have a concern that federal reimbursement is not meeting the demands of increasing costs of healthier meals. The purpose of this article is to report the food option changes and the annual revenues and expenses of the school food service environment. Methods: The HEALTHY study was a 3-year (2006 to 2009)…

Many industries in the United States already have seen positive results and increased productivity from the effective use of technology. With the challenges currently facing the nation's education system--including a persistent dropout rate of nearly 30 percent, slashed state and district budgets, and the economically and socially important goals…

The author uses Bourdieu's concepts of field, capital, and habitus to analyze how students, parents, teachers, and administrators are responding to Georgia's test-based grade retention policy in reading at one Georgia elementary school. In this multiple case study, the author interviewed, observed, and collected documents regarding ten fifth…

The Middle School Concept brings together good teaching practices with the unique needs of pre-adolescent students. Since the passing of the NCLB, more and more attention has been generated on the results of high stakes testing. The question of what happens to the middle school concept when it confronts the demands of this new age of testing is…

This study examined whether or not an approved change to Kentucky's subgroup size increased the exclusion of the disabilities subgroup from middle grade AYP calculations, the influence poverty and disability have on these subgroups' inclusion in middle grade level AYP calculations, and the accuracy of middle grade AYP status determinations based…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) ESEA on the Way?: Harkin Eyes Next Month for Possible Committee Action on ESEA Reauthorization; (2)…

House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities unanimously expressed concern for the growing trend in cyberbullying during a hearing last June 24. The event, which featured National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) board member Barbara-Jane Paris and other witnesses, including TV personality Dr. Phil…