The cost-effectiveness of class size reduction (CSR) was compared with the cost-effectiveness of rapid formative assessment, a promising alternative for raising student achievement. Drawing upon existing meta-analyses of the effects of student-teacher ratio, evaluations of CSR in Tennessee, California, and Wisconsin, and RAND cost estimates, CSR…

Although afterschool programs for children have been operating for decades in some communities, the afterschool movement--the great national awakening to the opportunity afterschool offers--is just a few years old. As public demand for afterschool has grown, so has the demand for accountability. That is particularly true in afterschool programs…

This article describes how one university-based center, UCLA's Center X, has worked to prepare and sustain urban educators over the past 16 years. Synthesizing findings from more than 20 articles, papers, books, and dissertations that report on Center X's work, we argue that three key activities are necessary to spur change and ensure a…

There is a highly compelling case for using technology on a large scale to increase access to and improve America's adult education and workforce skills enterprise. By the reckoning of the National Commission on Adult Literacy and others, the nation must reach many more millions of adults with effective college- and job-readiness skills programs…

Over the past several decades, researchers, politicians, and corporate leaders have focused reform efforts on the size of educational contexts. Hundreds of billions of public and private dollars have been invested to reduce the size and scope of both classrooms and schools (Lee & Ready, 2007). Unlike many education reforms, these downsizing…

Social skills training has been recommended as an intervention for students having difficulty establishing meaningful social relationships with peers and teachers in school settings. Several meta-analyses of the relevant literature have shown weak to moderate effects, whereas other syntheses have shown somewhat larger effects. The meta-analyses…