A medical school conducted a summer pre-matriculation program. The program provided basic sciences content comparable to first year medical student instruction along with clinical and other learning experiences. The study purpose was to examine self-confidence levels and reasoning skills of a single cohort of students. We examined the association…

Despite common conceptions, evidence on whether No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has had adverse effects for low achieving students is mixed. We hypothesize that the incentive to shift attention away from the lowest achieving students increases with the rigor of state standards. Using panel data from students in North Carolina, we exploit two natural…

Nineteen percent of 1997-98 North Carolina 3rd graders were observed to drop out of high school. A series of logits predict probabilities of dropping out on determinants such as math and reading test scores, absenteeism, suspension, and retention, at the following grade levels: 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 9th. The same cohort and variables are used to…

The current teacher workforce is younger, less experienced, more likely to turnover, and more diverse in preparation experiences than the workforce of two decades ago. Research shows that inexperienced teachers are less effective, but we know little about the effectiveness of teachers with different types of preparation. In this study, we classify…

Using student-level data from Durham, North Carolina, we examine the potential impact of school choice programs on the peer environments of students who remain in their geographically assigned schools. We examine whether the likelihood of opting out of one's geographically assigned school differs across groups and compare the actual peer…

Background/Context: In most judicial and social science debates about school desegregation, it is usually assumed that educational and social benefits, if significant, help establish a compelling purpose for school desegregation plans. Less thought has been given to whether the degree of benefits should factor into whether a plan is narrowly…

Long-term suspended (LTS) students are barred from the school system for lengthy periods, leaving them at risk of academic failure and vulnerable from lack of services. A program in a North Carolina public school system provided counselors to work with each LTS student. Outcome data were analyzed to determine the effectiveness of counseling…

Analysis of demographic trends suggests that, despite a recent rise in numbers of births, total school enrollment in North Carolina may continue to decline into the 1990s. (Author/MLF)

A North Carolina school system worked with NASSP and an area university to develop an improved administrator-preparation plan. Created by NASSP to unite key preparation elements, the "Potential Administrator Development Program" stresses field-based experiences via theory-to-practice classroom activities, mentoring opportunities,…

In order to examine the relationship between school size and achievement, a study was conducted using longitudinal achievement data from North Carolina for three separate cohorts of public school students (one elementary, one middle and one high school). Results revealed several interactions between size and student characteristics, all of which…

Changing your Learning Management System (LMS) presents challenges not only to instructional faculty, but also to the students who depend on these systems to completely deliver or support their courses. In assessing the transition for students experiencing an upgrade in the campus LMS, a number of findings have real implications for developing a…