The current study investigated the effects of metacognitive and executive function (EF) training on childhood EF (inhibition, working memory [WM], cognitive flexibility, and proactive/reactive control) and academic skills (reading, reasoning, and math) among children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Children (N = 134, M[subscript age] = 8.70 years)…

In Germany, there is still a great need for research on the quality of teacher-child interactions in ECEC institutions. Especially, because social interactions and relationships are crucial for (early) learning and development (Ulferts et al., 2019). However, there are hardly any results on factors influencing the interaction quality. This paper…

This article investigates the career paths of learners who attended Youthreach education centres. Youthreach originated in 1989 as an alternative pathway for early school learners experiencing disadvantage. Youthreach is an underresearched sector of the education system, even less is known about the career progression of Youthreach graduates. This…

Schools strive to respond compassionately to disadvantaged families. However, barriers to authentic home-school relationships persist because the concept of parental engagement at home is not well enough understood. Socio-cultural stereotyping still contributes to schools' fixed impressions of what parental engagement should consist of, and the…

Scholars question whether cultural capital reproduces existing inequalities or leads to upward mobility. While families provide opportunities to increase cultural capital, schools value and reward cultural capital. Thus, adolescents need to obtain cultural capital through their families to be able to navigate the education system. However, most…

A growing body of social science research investigates whether the economic payoff to a college education is heterogeneous -- in particular, whether disadvantaged youth can benefit more from attending and completing college relative to their more advantaged peers. Scholars, however, have employed different analytical strategies and reported mixed…

This study aims to assess the physical literacy environment in 30 early childhood classrooms servicing 4- to 6-year-old children. A high-quality literacy environment that includes a variety of materials and resources is an important part of children's emergent literacy, as research shows their use supports oral and written language development…

This paper reflects on the efficacy of the "kids-in-parks" program offered by various national parks in South Africa. Through transformative research, the objectives of the program are reviewed to facilitate future program assessment. Transformative research requires the use of mixed methods; qualitative input was gained from national…

Research seeking to understand and improve social conditions for marginalized youth would benefit from merging complex mixed methods research designs emphasizing multilevel data and participatory social justice principles. We contribute to mixed methods research by introducing a novel framework that accomplishes this task and by illustrating its…

This research explores the impact of effective leadership and targeted interventions in closing the achievement gap of disadvantaged pupils in primary schools. Findings suggest that the case study schools use effective school leaders and a range of targeted interventions including early intervention, small group additional teaching, one-to-one…

The study explored the experiences of adolescent learners regarding drug abuse in previously disadvantaged townships in South Africa. A phenomenological research paradigm was employed, and an inductive research approach was implemented. The study followed a qualitative research design focusing on interviews and document analysis as data collection…

Children growing up in disadvantaged neighborhoods perform much worse in school compared to children growing up under more favorable circumstances. We examine a program ("Coaching for Teaching") targeted at ten lower secondary schools in Sweden's most disadvantaged city districts. The program's aim was to enhance student performance by…

Purpose: To examine the impact of an out-of-school swimming program on children and youth from one underserved community. Method: Participants were 200 children and youth who attended the out-of-school swimming program during two consecutive summers. The theoretical framework employed drew from previous research on socialization. A mixed-methods…

This paper uses ethnography to explore an outdoor, arts-based intervention run by Urban Wilderness, in partnership with an English primary school. Urban Wilderness are a not-for-profit organisation which aims to connect children and young people from disadvantaged areas to locally accessible nature. Over the course of three afternoon workshops,…

Children growing up in disadvantage are more vulnerable to speech, language, and literacy difficulties, which are important in the acquisition of many different life skills. Despite supported playgroups engaging directly with families living in disadvantage, very few speech and language studies have been delivered within this setting. This study…