The Kauffman School is a public, tuition-free charter school serving Kansas City students. In the 2019-20 school year, the school enrolled 1,186 students in grades 5 through 12. Most (88 percent) of the students were low income, and 89 percent were Black or Hispanic. To measure the impact of the Kauffman School on its students, the authors…

Context personalization refers to matching instruction to students' out-of-school interests and experiences. Belief in the benefits of matching instruction to interests is widely held in the culture of schooling; however, little research has empirically examined how interest impacts performance and learning in secondary mathematics. Here we…

The trend and demand for virtual education has grown nationwide. With an increase in students choosing this type of education, inevitably the demand for schools of this type of educational instruction has increased in number. The purpose of this study is to determine the extent of the relationship between virtual school size and student…

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between virtual school size and student achievement in virtual schools in a southwestern state. Enrollment size and the following areas were studied in an attempt to determine student achievement: STAAR English Language Arts/Reading, STAAR Math, STAAR Science, and STAAR Social Studies…

Research evidence suggests that summer breaks contribute to income-based achievement and opportunity gaps for children and youth. However, summertime can also be used to provide programs that support an array of goals for children and youth, including improved academic achievement, physical health, mental health, social and emotional well-being,…

This technical report summarizes student-level analyses conducted with the SEL Skills Survey and the Student Climate Survey to determine if a single measure of students' SEL skill acquisition and perceptions of school climate is possible. A separate research brief of this report also was published. [This report was supported by St. David's…

This annual report provides information for the 2010-11 school year on grade-level retention and student performance in the Texas public school system. Student retention and promotion data are reported with data on the performance of students in Grades 3-10 on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) reading and mathematics tests. [For…

Ironically, adults control most of the world of children's literature: adults write the books; adults choose which books to publish; adults review the books, adults bestow the awards on books and adults purchase the books for bookstores, libraries, and their children. In this paradigm of adult control, children's opinions are often overlooked. The…

Explored where bullying occurred, what kind of bullying happened, how often bullying occurred, and whom students confided in when bullying occurred at school. Surveys of rural 9th and 10th graders indicated that bullying was a very real part of their daily lives. Nearly 75 percent reported some type of bullying at school, and many observed…

"Smoothing the Path" describes successful state-level strategies and policy lessons that have been learned in four states during the development of schools that integrate secondary and postsecondary education. Statewide efforts in the multi-year Early College High School Initiative, which began in Ohio and Utah in 2002 and in Texas and…

"Project 'Graduation Really Achieves Dreams'" ("GRAD") is an initiative for students in economically disadvantaged communities that aims to reduce dropping out and increase rates of college enrollment and graduation by increasing reading and math skills, improving behavior in school, and providing a service safety net. At the…

Volume 1, the first of eight publications developed by the Intercultural Development Research Association as part of the "Texas School Dropout Survey Project," looks at the magnitude of the school dropout problem in Texas. It presents data on dropouts, dropout distribution and rates by type and size of place, dropout trends nationally,…

Volume 3, the third of eight publications developed by the Intercultural Development Research Association as part of the "Texas School Dropout Survey Project," describes a tracking study developed to measure the magnitude of the dropout problem in Texas. The tracking of 1,500 students who had withdrawn from schools in 10 districts is…

During 1980-81, 189 Texas school districts and 6 special projects provided programs designed to meet the needs of 111,703 migrant children. Programs provided instructional (reading, mathematics, English language arts) and noninstructional support (dental and medical services, transportation, clothing) services. Parental involvement and student…

Volume 5, the fifth of eight publications developed by the Intercultural Development Research Association as part of the "Texas School Dropout Survey Project," decribes a study, conducted exclusively in Texas, which replicated national studies on benefits and costs of dropout prevention. The benefits in the study are expressed in terms…