Purpose: Our purpose was to gather and evaluate accurate, up-to-date information on physical education (PE) policy implementation across multiple U.S. states and regions. Methods: A U.S. Physical Education and Physical Activity Policy questionnaire was developed and completed by 4,845 public-school PE teachers from 25 U.S. states. The U.S.…

Extended school year (ESY) services refer to those special education services received by students during the summer break. These services are needed for those students who receive special education services who would otherwise regress and not readily recoup skills when returning to school. Identifying students who should receive extended school…

Introduction: This study analyzed survey responses from 141 teachers of students with visual impairments who shared their experiences about the implementation of Unified English Braille (UEB). Methods: Teachers of students with visual impairments in the United States completed an online survey during spring 2016. Results: Although most respondents…

Because digital devices and the Internet have become so essential, digital inequality can exacerbate educational and economic inequality as well. Therefore, it is critical to understand how low- and moderate-income families in the U.S. are engaging digital technologies and how they perceive the opportunities--and potential risks-- that these…

The data in this survey offer a unique perspective from low- and moderate-income families with school-age children in the United States. They reveal many of the nuances and complexities of digital life among lower income families today. Because lower-income parents are not usually the focus of studies on technology and learning, this report offers…

Background: In the United States, students' experiences are shaped by racioethnic, socioeconomic, and linguistic segregation. School choice, and especially charter schools, generally exacerbate existing levels of school segregation. Counter to this trend, hundreds of intentionally diverse charter schools (IDCS), with a mission to promote school…

A survey was conducted with 86 teachers across 10 states regarding their students' ease of use of physical manipulatives incorporated with implementing evidence-based early numeracy instruction. The majority of respondents indicated significant student accessibility barriers. Specifically, 75% of respondents had students with tactile defensiveness…

This study investigated the prevalence of increasingly popular animal-assisted stress relief programs at higher education institutions across the United States. Although research on animal-assisted programs is increasing, there is still a lack of information documenting implementation of these programs. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to…

Through the Innovative Professional Development (iPD) Challenge, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has invested in helping school districts and networks redesign their professional development systems to serve educators better and improve student performance. MDRC's evaluation of the iPD Challenge involves case studies and multiple rounds of…

Given that independent schools have started to face competition from charter schools, the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) commissioned a study with current and prospective charter school parents to determine their perceptions of charter vs. independent schools, assess the relative impact of the variables that affect their school…

In this article, we review translation, adaptation policies, and practices in providing test accommodation for English language learners (ELLs) in the United States. We collected documents and conducted interviews with officials in the 12 states that provide translation accommodations to ELLs on content assessments. We then summarized challenges…

The factor structure of the CORE Phonics Survey was analyzed using a sample of 165 students in upper elementary school with specific learning disabilities. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to identify the hypothesized constructs of the CORE Phonics Survey and predictive validity of the CORE Phonics Survey to predict students' success in word…

What software tools do school systems actually want? Demand-side analyses typically reflect the loudest voices in the market that companies are eager to please--in the case of education technology, the largest urban districts with the largest technology budgets. But half of the nation's 48 million public school students attend approximately 3,700…

The purpose of this study is to see if contact with the dead is associated with lower death anxiety among older Mexican Americans. The data come from a nationwide survey of older Mexican Americans (N = 1,005). The study model specifies that (a) older Mexican Americans who have experienced contact with the dead are more likely to see the…

This paper examines STEM-based informal learning environments for underrepresented students and reports on the aspects of these programs that are beneficial to students. This qualitative study provides a nuanced look into informal learning environments and determines what is unique about these experiences and makes them beneficial for students. We…