This Data Byte presents a summary of findings among students in the 2020 ACT-tested graduating class, over 225,000 of whom took the PreACT® test before taking the ACT® test. Five findings are highlighted: (1) PreACT-tested students scored higher on the ACT test; (2) Average gain from the PreACT to the ACT varies across subjects; (3) Average gain…

Previous studies about ELs have reported data on active English Learners--defined as those students who have not yet reached proficiency on a state English test--at a specific moment in time. This study, for the first time, analyzed the long-term trajectories of 18,000 CPS students who began kindergarten as ELs and followed their progress all the…

In this study, we explored whether a residence life plan designed to meet the academic and psychosocial development of at-risk housing students, where oversight and support were provided on a weekly basis, and a proactive, intrusive counseling approach was implemented, would be effective for academic success. Participants included 74 urban at-risk…

Objective: The proportion of high school students taking college courses (e.g., dual credit) is increasing and state and local policies are expanding, yet little is known about the effect of dual credit policies on key educational outcomes, including the effects for low-income students and students of color. The purpose of this study was to…

The 6-yr degree-completion rate of undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors at U.S. colleges and universities is less than 40%. Persistence among women and underrepresented minorities (URMs), including African-American, Latino/a, Native American, and Pacific Islander students, is even more troubling, as these…

The study set out to determine the effects of Career Technical Education Career Academy participation on student outcome measures in a high minority urban school district. Three research questions explored student participation in career academies and student outcomes in the area of grade point average, credit completion and/or attendance rates.…

Taking advantage of lottery-like features in New York City's high school admissions process, previous MDRC reports have provided rigorous evidence that new small public high schools are narrowing the educational attainment gap and markedly improving high school graduation prospects, particularly for disadvantaged students. The new findings in this…

This research study was specifically designed to examine the relationship of a learning communities program, as a standard treatment effect, on the academic performance and retention of college freshmen during the Fall 2008 through Fall 2011 academic semesters, and specifically for a university comprised of higher levels of underrepresented…

This report describes findings from an efficacy study examining the effects of professional development focused on integrating academic literacy instruction with content area coursework on teacher instructional practices and student achievement in reading and high school biology and US history. The research builds on a well-tested approach to…

Comparisons between participants and non-participants in supplemental instruction classes at San Francisco State University over a six-year period show positive impacts in terms of increased student performance and progression through subsequent courses in a sequence, despite the lower academic indicators of the supplemental instruction…

This study examined associations between quality of social and physical environments in preschools and children's development of academic, language, and literacy skills, and the extent to which preschool quality moderated the associations between child risk and development. Participants were a diverse sample of 540 four-year-old children in…

In 1997, Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes partnered with Pueblo School District 60 (PSD60), a heavily minority urban district with many Title I schools, to implement a theoretically based initiative designed to improve Colorado Student Assessment Program reading scores. In this study, the authors examined achievement in Grades 3-5 during the…

This longitudinal study examined the education of language minority students in five school districts nationwide. Qualitative data included interviews, school visits, surveys, and source documents. Quantitative data included information from registration centers, language minority student databases, student information systems databases, testing…

Rarely in educational research do researchers have access to data that allow them to empirically explore the impacts of programs on individual student learning over long periods of time. This element of Consortium for Policy Research in Education's (CPRE) evaluation of the America's Choice comprehensive school reform design is one of those…

This article presents findings from a 4-year study of 13 culturally and linguistically diverse elementary schools implementing comprehensive school reform (CSR) models. The study focused on: (a) the actions at the state and district levels that facilitated or inhibited reform implementation; (b) the adaptability of the various reforms in…