Purpose: This study explored implementation of the middle school concept (MSC) in Illinois middle-level schools, examining relationships between MSC implementation and schools' relative wealth, racial/ethnic composition, and achievement levels. Design/methodology/approach: This quantitative study utilized a sample of 137 Illinois middle-level…

In November, amid a global pandemic and economic crisis, voters will choose the next president of the United States. Clearly, there will be no shortage of pressing issues to tackle within the first 100 days of the next administration. Addressing COVID-19 and the economy will certainly be top agenda items, but regardless of this election's outcome,…

This report considers the role that the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) could take in supporting partner countries in embedding 21st-century skills or equivalent within their education systems. The report recommendations consider the different levers that GPE can use as well as the core principles underlying GPE's work, including…

In the city of Milwaukee, the vast majority of students do not achieve both high school and college graduation which has been termed as a "completion crisis." This is negatively impacting not only those students but also the region's workforce challenges. Indeed, the area economy could suffer greatly unless metro Milwaukee leaders can…

The Tuition Opportunity Program for Students (subsequently renamed the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students, also known as TOPS) was created by Act 1375 of the 1997 Regular Legislative Session. The first college freshman class to receive TOPS awards entered postsecondary education in the fall of 1998. Act 1202 of the 2001 Regular Legislative…

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…

High school students nationwide spent the whole academic year fully online or in and out of a cobbled together hybrid format. While these students are digital naturals, they were asked to do even more online and lost opportunities to engage traditional in-person milestones like prom, graduation, and college visits. After a year of "Zooming it…

The COVID-19 health crisis has laid bare the structural inequity in the financial aid system. The pandemic has hit the lowest-income students hardest, with many struggling to afford the basic technology for online learning on top of new or exacerbated food and housing insecurity. Federal and state dollars predicated on Pell Grant eligibility, time…

This article examines the importance of education in creating differences across European countries with regard to how young people experience job insecurity during their transition from school to work. On a theoretical level, two sets of educational system features which influence job insecurity are identified: institutional (stratification,…

Scarce human and fiscal resources of high value are spent in the field of education. Thus, the concept of efficiency, and particularly technical efficiency, that refers to the maximization of outputs at a given set of inputs, can be a possible contribution to the design of education policy and administration; mostly at a time of economic crisis as…

Students in America live in two educational nations. In the vast majority of high schools with 300 or more students, the average graduation rate is already at the national goal of 90 percent or more and dropping out is a rarity. In the remaining high schools, the average graduation rate is 49 percent and on-time graduation for students is only a…

This article examines how one elementary school was divided into two schools--a primary and an intermediate school--because of how policies were interpreted and enacted with regard to high-stakes testing. The grades in which students took high-stakes tests were privileged in terms of receiving monetary resources and support from staff. An emphasis…

The Washington State Board of Education (SBE) issues an annual report to the Governor, the Legislature, and the public, in accordance with the Charter School Act, RCW 28A.710.250. The statute requires the annual charter school report to include the following: (1) the performance of the state's charter schools during the preceding school year,…

Evidence from behavioral economics suggests that the framing and labeling of choices affect financial decisions. Through a randomized control trial of over six thousand high school seniors, community college students, and adults without a college degree, we identify the existence of both framing and labeling effects in respondents' preferences for…

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that impact the job satisfaction and retention of teachers at a rural high school in South Carolina. An electronic survey was given to 22 teachers in order to collect information on job satisfaction and teacher retention. Several factors were identified that impact job satisfaction and teachers…