In the policy context of college and career readiness, career and technical education (CTE) is growing in popularity, especially for students who are underserved in academic high school programs. While CTE has shown promise for some students, very little research exists on its potential for emergent bilingual students (EBs). Thus, building on…

Nearly all states and the District of Columbia have policies requiring schools to address prevention of alcohol or drug use and abuse in high school health education curricula, according to National Association of State Boards of Education's (NASBE's) State Health Policy Database. But with the added concerns about the pandemic's impact on youth…

Initiatives to integrate technology into teaching and learning often lack a long-term follow up to gauge if those same initiatives set the stage for teachers to easily adopt the next stage of learning technologies. Using the ten-year anniversary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Classroom for the Future grant, where $200 million were allocated…

Across the United States millions of school age students miss more that 18 days of school in a single year (Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2017). These students are far more likely than their regularly attending counterparts to be below grade level in reading, have behavior issues and be at risk of dropping out (Applied Survey Research,…

A sample of sexual- and gender-minority students (n = 65; 51.6% female; 55.8% White; M age = 16.94 years) reported more peer victimization, lower academic achievement, and poorer perceptions of school safety as compared to their heterosexual allied peers. Sexual- and gender-minority students demonstrating higher levels of sexual activity and…

This case illustrates the importance for school leaders and teachers to be knowledgeable about current legal precedent when creating district and school policies. We describe a legal battle that occurred in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in which a school district instituted a policy affecting English learners that was in violation of two federal laws.…

School administrators are in the best position, but often lack the knowledge, to help low-income, minority youth transition to college. Consequently, some youth are not meeting their full potential and there are long-term, deleterious consequences on local economies as wage earning potential stagnates. Using Aslanargun's, Farmer-Hinton's, and…

This report provides a comprehensive review of the literature on restorative justice in U.S. schools. The review captures key issues, describes models of restorative justice, and summarizes results from studies conducted in the field. The review was conducted on research reports and other relevant literature published, or made publicly available,…

Though many American educators embrace technology in classrooms, administrators can create policies that inhibit technology such as mobile phone use in classrooms or on district property. These policies range from restrictive with no mobile phone use permitted, to liberal in which unrestricted use of mobile phones is allowed. The purpose of this…

This study focused on the association between 3 school-level supports for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students and teachers' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors toward LGBT youth. Framed within social support theory, the study used survey method with a sample of 98 teachers in Grades 6-12. The purpose was to examine the relation…

Educators nationwide confront a troubling phenomenon: Increasingly, students leave high school unready for college, as evidenced by high rates of placement into remedial courses and low rates of college completion. Many students also lack either the attitudes or skills essential to succeed in a postsecondary setting, or knowledge of how to apply…

In the era of No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, school districts are under increasing pressure from policymakers to hold all students to high performance standards. In response, a growing number of schools are embracing the principles of student-centered learning (SCL). SCL is a contemporary approach that combines progressive and…

Student drug and alcohol policies often impose consequences on students that may place the child at greater risk of delinquent behavior. The project described in this article sought to explore how different stakeholders in two public school systems perceived the ability of their drug and alcohol policies to protect the needs of the school, the…

Middle and high school students subjected to harsh school discipline policies and practices such as suspensions and expulsions are more likely to disengage from the classroom and course work, and increases their chances of dropping out, according to this new report from the Alliance for Excellent Education. The report recommends implementing…