This study was designed to investigate the influence of poverty and parent marital status on eighth grade student achievement as measured by the EXPLORE, a precursor to the ACT. The sample included 520 eighth grade students at a middle school in West Kentucky--parent marital status, free/reduced lunch status, and EXPLORE test scores were obtained…

This study used quantitative measures to explore child abuse reporting trends for early career school counselors and to examine factors influencing their decisions to report suspected child abuse. Thematic coding was used to analyze recommendations for additional training needs regarding child abuse reporting and for the challenges school…

In order to compare the accessibility, need, and extent of professional development, technology, and its relationship to low socioeconomic (SES) schools and achievement, data were accessed from the Kentucky Department of Education, Division of School and Community Nutrition Qualifying Data Report to identify schools with a greater than 50% free…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to identify the instructional leadership practices that develop a growth mindset in teachers and to determine if the evaluation model will lead to enhanced pedagogical practices. Schools were separated into schools of affluence and poverty. Schools of affluence had less than a 35% free and reduced lunch…

The National School Lunch Program's (NSLP) original goal was to help students in need, but policy changes in the past decade have made students from middle-income and upper-income families eligible for federally funded school meals. The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), an expansion of the NSLP enacted in 2010, effectively created a federal…

The FNS Research Corner provides a continuing series to summarize recently completed and current research conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) in the area of child nutrition. Summaries of recently completed research projects and in-progress research are provided in this article.

The FNS Research Corner provides a continuing series to summarize recently completed and current research conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) in the area of child nutrition. Summaries of recently completed research projects, research conducted through grant activities, and in-progress research are…

The purpose of this slide deck is to shine a spotlight on education in the American South with a focus on equity and to provide an understanding of the historical, social, political, and economic context in which the education sector operates. Any movement serious about improving education and life outcomes for underserved student groups --…

This report presents findings from the Access Evaluation, a study component that is designed to assess the potential impacts of direct certification-Medicaid (DC-M) on students' access to free school meals by conducting retrospective simulations of DC-M in school year 2011-2012, the year before the demonstration began. For the Access Evaluation,…

This study compared the employment, extracurricular participation, and family structure status of students from low socioeconomic families that achieved state-approved benchmarks on ACT reading and mathematics tests to those that did not achieve the benchmarks. Free and reduced lunch eligibility was used to determine SES. Participants included 211…

This article describes findings from a survey completed by 250 K-12th grade teachers from eight states (i.e., Kentucky, Minnesota, Michigan, Maine, Delaware, North Carolina, Georgia, and Mississippi) that had fully implemented the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) by spring 2013. The survey was designed to examine teachers' perceptions about…

Section 104(a) of the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act (HHFKA) of 2010 made the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) available to Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) and schools in high poverty areas. Under the CEP, families are not required to submit applications for free or reducedprice (FRP) meals, and schools must provide free lunch and breakfast…

Background: Alternative school settings for students who are identified as "disruptive or dangerous" are playing an increasingly prominent role in the world of public education, yet significant gaps in our understanding of their efficacy remain. Objective: This longitudinal investigation within a large school district serving 100,000…

Each state and jurisdiction that participated in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2011 reading assessment receives a one-page snapshot report that presents key findings and trends in a condensed format. Overall results, achievement level percentages and average score results, comparison of the average score in 2011 to other…

Each state and jurisdiction that participated in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2011 mathematics assessment receives a one-page snapshot report that presents key findings and trends in a condensed format. Overall results, achievement level percentages and average score results, comparison of the average score in 2011 to…