Historically, research has focused on academic underperformance for students of color and those living in poverty, with less attention given to protective factors that promote academic achievement. Students' perceptions of their school environment (i.e., school climate) and their social-emotional competence have emerged as protective factors for…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between high school students' athletics participation, mediated by engagement, and their academic achievement. The study sought to determine if increased athletics participation, and a self-reported increased sense of engagement at school, resulted in higher SAT test scores for high school…

The problem was the low reading level and language arts performance of Hispanic American and African American elementary school students, compared to European American students. The problem was addressed because it affects students' academic achievement and overall education as they progress further in school. Teachers, administrators, and…

Background/Context: Increasing evidence suggests a connection between racial differences in rates of exclusionary discipline (suspensions/expulsions) and academic achievement by (Losen & Martinez, 2020; Reardon et al., 2018). Black students receive out-of-school suspensions and expulsions at disproportionately higher rates, which is associated…

This article explores how the associations between student achievement and achievement growth influence our understanding of the role schools play in academic inequality. Using nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-2011 (ECLS-K:2011), we constructed parallel growth and lagged score…

This study builds on a 2019 Fordham Institute report that examined the relationship between charter school enrollment share--the share of students in a community who enroll in a charter school--and the average achievement of all the students in that community, including those in traditional public schools. Like its predecessor, this report seeks…

Principals (policy makers) have debated the progress in U.S. student performance for a half century or more. Informing these conversations, survey agents have administered seven million psychometrically linked tests in math and reading in 160 waves to national probability samples of selected cohorts born between 1954 and 2007. This study is the…

StudentU is a comprehensive program that provides education, nutrition, and social support services to disadvantaged middle and high school students outside of the regular school day. In this paper I investigate the effects of this multiyear program on the early high school outcomes of participating students by exploiting data from oversubscribed…

This year's Brown Center Report (BCR) on American Education is the 17th issue overall since its beginning in 2000. The 2018 edition focuses on the state of social studies and civics education in U.S. schools. Like previous editions, which were authored by Tom Loveless, the report comprises three studies: The first chapter examines student…

This study examines student-teacher "racial match" for its association with Black student achievement. Multilevel structural equation modeling was used to analyze 2013 National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) Grade 4 Reading Assessment data to examine interactions of teacher race and student race in their associations with…

Income inequality has soared in the United States over the past half century. Has educational inequality increased alongside, in lockstep? Despite the topic's importance, surprisingly little scholarship has focused on long-term changes in the size of the achievement gap between students from higher and lower socioeconomic backgrounds. The authors'…

The purpose of this nonexperimental quantitative study was to explore the effects of teachers' certification on the achievement of African American students. The impetus for this exploration resided in the reading achievement disparities between African American and Caucasian students in the study district. Guided by the principles of total…

Children with learning disabilities represent the largest category of students served within special education systems in schools, and are at increased risk for academic and psychosocial problems in comparison to peers without learning disabilities. While much of clinical practice and research focus has been on academic interventions,…

Previous research suggests that there are academic benefits when students and teachers share the same race/ethnicity because such teachers can serve as role models, mentors, advocates, or cultural translators. In this paper, we obtain estimates of achievement changes as students are assigned to teachers of different races/ethnicities from grades 3…

Research on language-minority student outcomes has revealed sizeable and persistent achievement gaps. The reasons for these gaps are often closely linked with other factors related to underperformance, including generational status, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Using sociocultural second-language acquisition theories and community…