An exploratory study examined rural Latino youths' perceptions regarding positive youth development (PYD), particularly related to aspects such as the definition of PYD, potential benefits of PYD, and motivations for participating in PYD activities. A total of 28 self-identified Hispanic youths participated in focus groups. Findings suggest that…

Many communities across the United States have been undergoing recent demographic changes. Since the 1980s, low-skilled labor (e.g. meatpacking) has attracted Latino families to settle in communities that historically have been home to few, if any, Latinos (i.e. the New Latino Diaspora). In more recent years, these same job opportunities have also…

In 2009, Excelencia in Education launched the Ensuring America's Future initiative to inform, organize, and engage leaders in a tactical plan to increase Latino college completion. An executive summary of Latino College Completion in 50 states synthesizes information on 50 state factsheets and builds on the national benchmarking guide. Each…

This report provides information about the performance of Nebraska's 2016 graduating seniors who took the ACT as sophomores, juniors, or seniors; and self-reported at the time of testing that they were scheduled to graduate in 2016. Beginning with the Graduating Class of 2013, all students whose scores are college reportable, both standard and…

The purpose of this study was to examine possible relationships between participation in extracurricular activities and student achievement, participation in extracurricular activities and attendance, and participation in extracurricular activities and behavior. The setting for this study was a high school in western Nebraska. Data for 275 of the…

Superintendent Steve Joel had reason to be concerned when he got a call from the police chief telling him that federal immigration authorities were coming to the local Swift & Company meat-packing plant to round up undocumented workers as part of a six-state raid. Of the 8,000 students in the Grand Island School District in Central Nebraska,…

Annually, ACT provides a snapshot of the college and career readiness of ACT-tested high school graduates. This report is offered as a service to inform policymakers and practitioners about selected indicators of effectiveness and how that translates into readiness. It is designed to stimulate discussion, inquiry, and action. This report is…

This report provides information about the performance of Nebraska's 2012 graduating seniors who took the ACT as sophomores, juniors, or seniors; and self-reported at the time of testing that they were scheduled to graduate in 2012 and tested under standard time conditions. This report focuses on: (1) Performance: student test performance in the…

This year the Center on Education Policy analyzed data on the achievement of different groups of students in two distinct ways. First, it looked at grade 4 test results to determine whether the performance of various groups improved at three achievement levels--basic and above, proficient and above, and advanced. Second, it looked at gaps between…

This report begins with a profile of selected aggregate data on Hispanic population trends from 1980 to 1990 derived from federal census and state vital statistics reports. The remainder of the report profiles available aggregate data on educational participation and attainment during roughly the same period of time from a variety of sources. The…

This report updates information presented in Volume 1 in 1992. The bulk of the report presents aggregate data on educational participation and attainment from preschool through postsecondary education. The following sections are included: (1) profile of the Hispanic/Latino population in Nebraska; (2) profile of Hispanics/Latinos in preschool,…

Minority students made up approximately 25% of the student population at Central High School in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1995. The composition of Central's honors and challenge classes did not reflect this diversity, however, few minority students were taking challenge classes as underclassmen and even fewer were taking AP courses as seniors. In fall…

This report provides data on the academic achievement gap that separates low-income and minority students from other students, examining how well different groups of students perform in Nebraska and noting inequities in teacher quality, course offerings, and funding. Included are tables and data that provide: a frontier gap analysis (a comparison…

This report compares Nebraska's reading and mathematics performance on the most recent administrations of the state assessment with performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). To indicate how Nebraska is doing in narrowing the academic achievement gap between African American and Latino students and their white, middle…