School districts throughout the country have faced increasing challenges with recruiting and retaining beginning STEM teachers. In 2017, turnover rates for mathematics and science teachers were 90% greater in the top quartile of schools serving students of color than in the bottom quartile. A RAND Corporation 2021 survey found nearly one in four…

This research study was conducted to gain a better understanding of teacher perceptions, in both low-performing and high-performing urban charter schools, of the impact of administrative support, professional development, and teacher preparation in closing the achievement gap among fourth grade students. The trend over the last five years among…

We contribute to the school start time literature by using statewide student-level data from North Carolina to estimate start time effects for all students and for traditionally disadvantaged students. Descriptively, we found that urban high schools were likely to start very early or late. Later start times were associated with positive student…

This study focuses on how the demographic change occurring within two county-wide school districts and communities in the South, including the creation of suburban enclaves alongside central cities overwhelmingly made up of low-income students of color, influences community support for diversity policies within two school districts with a history…

Background: Schools are important sites for interventions to prevent childhood obesity. This study examines how variables measuring the socioeconomic and racial composition of schools and counties affect the likelihood of obesity among third to fifth grade children. Methods: Body mass index data were collected from third to fifth grade public…

To improve teacher retention, many scholars have set out to identify which teacher working conditions influence teachers' decisions to remain in the profession or stay in a particular school or district. School leadership has been identified as one of the most important working conditions affecting teachers' decisions to remain in a school.…

This report provides a new resource for understanding the state of urban public schools in the U.S. Geared specifically toward city leaders who want to evaluate how well traditional district and charter schools are serving all their city's children and how their schools compare to those in other cities, the report measures outcomes for all public…

Students entering high school in 9th grade face a formidable challenge. The transition to high school from 8th grade brings with it increased risks for all students. For example, students in 9th grade are anywhere from three to five times more likely to fail a class than students in any other grade. Similarly, ninth grade retention rates are…

This report misrepresents and then criticizes recommendations from the Minnesota Department of Education, a think tank and two independent study groups, each of which recently encouraged particular voluntary efforts to reduce concentrated poverty and achieve racial and socioeconomic integration in schools and housing in Minnesota. In building its…

Substantial research supports the need for early intervention efforts for students at risk for failure. Despite the empirically documented importance of early, explicit reading intervention for students who enter school without critical prereading skills, many kindergarten programs delay intensive reading instruction until later in the year.…

In North Carolina, the Task Force on the Achievement of Culturally Diverse Students was established to respond to specific goals and objectives that speak to the achievement of African American, Native American, and Hispanic American students. Issues on homeless children and youths were addressed to a lesser extent since this group represents a…

Three districts that desegregated their schools by choice--Berkeley, California, Moore County North Carolina, and Searcy, Arkansas--as well as the Hillsborough County, Florida school district, desegregated under court order, are examined in this publication. All four studies examine the desegregation plans of each district as well as the…