This study examined if children who participated in prekindergarten education programs were better prepared for the kindergarten classroom. Children enter the kindergarten setting at various levels of readiness. A mixed method concurrent transformative study design was employed. Data were collected that provided clarity on how preschool…

As homelessness increased among families and children during the 1980s and 1990s, policymakers created, and strengthened, the McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) program. The McKinney-Vento EHCY program aims to mitigate the effects of residential instability through the identification of homeless children in schools and…

Does the world really need another report? What "more" could be said that has not already been said? Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) asked themselves the same question and launched a major year long effort to capture what is currently known about what it takes to ensure the success of all students, especially…

This paper presents data collected in individual case studies that aimed to investigate children and their families who succeeded against the usual "odds" of disadvantage. Funded as an extension of EPPE 3-11 by the Cabinet Office for the Equalities Review, the study focused particularly closely upon the performance of disadvantaged…

The school district in Middletown, New York, in the state's Orange County, today serves close to 7,000 students in four elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school. The district is classified by the state in the highest of three Need-to-Resource-Capacity groups, an urban or suburban school district with high student needs in…

Background/Context: Black students are no less engaged or more disruptive than other students of similar achievement levels and socioeconomic status. However, because Black students are more likely to have disadvantaged family backgrounds and lower levels of achievement, segregation concentrates the risk factors for problem behavior in…

Community schools are an approach that has been adopted to respond to this educational crisis. By partnering with local agencies, community schools provide students and families with access to healthcare services, educational enhancement and recreational opportunities, family economic supports such as workforce development and income tax…

Children from low-income families benefit remarkably from exposure to compensatory education that began with Head Start in 1965 and aimed to improve school readiness skills by design. While empirical evidence has supported more instructional time in elementary and secondary schools for low-income students, little is known that whether increasing…

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore through in-depth analysis of interviews of perceptual change and what trainers of "A Framework for Understanding Poverty" to educators have learned about themselves, about poverty in the United States, about children of poverty, and about those who work with students of poverty. A…

For a long time, the issue of summer learning has waited in the wings, like a fully prepared understudy, ready to jump in and take the stage should the star need a back-up. Recently, though, summer learning has moved into the spotlight--and at the same time, the script is changing. Instead of memorizing and mimicking the star's lines, summer…

Social-emotional competence is an important determinant of school readiness. School readiness, in turn, sets the stage for school success. There is clear longitudinal evidence that school success, attachment and bonding to the schooling process, and full engagement of schooling can, in combination, operate as a protective factor against a host of…

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how equity audits can be used as a tool to expose disparate achievement in schools that, on the surface and to the public, appear quite similar. To that end, the researcher probed beyond surface-level performance composite scores into deeper, more hidden data associated with state-recognized…

The book describes two similar and successful models of youth mentoring used by two acclaimed urban high schools that have consistently achieved exceptional graduation rates. Providing a detailed description of their methods--based upon extensive observation, and interviews with teachers, students, administrators, and parents--this book makes a…

The collision of the childhood obesity epidemic with pressure to achieve high academic standards is of serious concern in the United States. Growing numbers of low-income, minority children face double jeopardy as alarming obesity rates further widen existing achievement gaps. Health and education disparities persist when children enter…

Background: Findings from several international studies have shown that there is a significant relationship between literacy skills and socioeconomic status (SES). Research has also shown that schools differ considerably in their student outcomes, even after taking account of students' ability and family background. The context or learning…