A school social worker and three social work interns in a semirural alternative high school with a predominant Hispanic student enrollment evaluated the Taking Charge group intervention. The group is an evidence-based life skills intervention for adolescent mothers, and it was evaluated on its efficacy for improving participants' school…

For a multitude of reasons candidates do not always complete all assessments in the examinations they are entered for. Using examination data across a range of GCSE specifications offered by the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance, this article details the impact of "unaccepted" absence on educational attainment, and explores absence…

Despite recent progress, college attendance rates of Latino students continue to lag behind those of White students in the United States. Research suggests that outreach programs designed to increase the college knowledge of Latino students and families hold promise for reducing the observed discrepancy. Based on participant observer methods, this…

For 20 years, GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) has worked to ensure safe schools for all students, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. For 10 of those years, GLSEN has been documenting the school experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth: the prevalence of anti-LGBT…

This study examines factors affecting test scores in a sample of thirty-seven Texas public high schools from 2003 to 2007 since the implementation of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. The schools were chosen based upon similar tax rates and district sizes. The Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test was implemented in 2003…

Decades of research support the role of a positive school climate on teaching and learning. This newsletter takes a look at the topic of school climate and sets out to determine: (1) What is school climate? (2) How can schools assess their school climate? (3) What are some practical examples of how schools are assessing school climate? and (4)…

This "Report Card to the Public" is published in accordance with Alaska Statute 14.03.120 for the school year 2011-2012. Under state law, each school district is required to report information about its plans and performance to its community. This report includes a statewide summary of performance results. It reports the status of public…

Children attending all-day alternate day kindergartens scored significantly higher on academic measures than children attending half-day everyday kindergartens. (Editor)

There is widespread interest in the impact of unauthorised absence on pupil attainment, links with disaffection, exclusion from school and criminality. However, little is heard about what those who take unauthorised absence from school think that the effect has been on them; nor do we hear the voices of other pupils and their teachers. This…

This paper considers whether high schools in competitive environments use grade inflation to attract and retain families, perhaps in addition to more constructive responses. Two measures of grade inflation are used: the cutoffs used by each school to assign a letter grade to a percent score and high school grade point average after controlling for…

Researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and parents have assumed a positive relationship between school attendance and academic success. And yet, among the vast body of empirical research examining how input factors relate to academic outcomes, few investigations have honed in on the precision of the relationship between individual attendance…

On July 17-18, 2008, the National Education Association hosted the NEA National Summit on gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) Issues in Education in Chicago, Illinois. The purpose of the Summit was to gather leading researchers, scholars, and practitioners on GLBT issues in education to assess the status of GLBT students in the United…

This "Report Card to the Public" is published in accordance with Alaska Statute 14.03.120 for the school year 2012-2013. Under state law, each school district is required to report information about its plans and performance to its community. This report includes a statewide summary of performance results. Public knowledge of the school…

Students in an introductory college biology course who believed that attending class had been important for their academic success in high school were 1) most likely to attend their college biology class, 2) most likely to earn high grades in their college biology class, 3) most likely to report that their high school classes had been challenging,…

The Oregon Statewide Report Card is an annual publication required by law (ORS 329.115), which reports on the state of public schools and their progress towards the goals of the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century. The purpose of the Oregon Report Card is to monitor trends among school districts and Oregon's progress toward achieving the…