The purpose of this study was to compare the achievement of students in 14 Pascagoula schools and 9 Biloxi schools implementing School Renaissance (SR) to that of students in matched control schools. The achievement measures to be examined were from the 2004 administration of the Mississippi Curriculum Test (MCT) for Reading, Language Arts, and…

Despite the preliminary studies that support solution-focused brief therapy, limited research has examined the model as a group intervention with students at risk for academic underachievement and school nonattendance. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of the model on school attendance and grade point average.…

This study explored the effects of a full-day preschool program on 4-year-old children. The study compared the development of a group of children (N = 403) who attended the preschool program on a half-day basis during the 1999-2000 school year (the last year the half-day program was in place) with the development of a group of children (N = 418)…

As the amount of resources allocated to out-of-school (OST) programming and policymakers' demands for research-based results increase, there is increasing interest in rigorous research designs to examine OST program outcomes. This issue of "Out-of-School Time Evaluation Snapshots" reviews 27 quasi-experimental and experimental OST…

This 10-year study compared the achievement of 3 samples of students designated at-risk for school failure and 1 sample deemed not at risk, and followed a transitional first-grade school readiness program (SRP) population from prekindergarten through eighth grade to identify contextual factors associated with student progress. At-risk samples were…

A quasi-experimental study explored the ways in which the full-day kindergarten program is beneficial and/or detrimental to students compared to the half-day and/or extended-day program. The sample consisted of six full-day schools matched with half-day schools on geographic location, school size, student norm-referenced data, and socioeconomic…

The statistical properties of two methods of estimating gain scores for groups in quasi-experiments are compared: (1) gains in scores standardized separately for each group; and (2) analysis of covariance with estimated true pretest scores. The fan spread hypothesis is assumed for groups but not necessarily assumed for members of the groups.…

This paper reports the outcomes of a motivation training program for preadolescents. The program consisted of activities, strategies, and 18 mini-lessons designed to enhance preadolescents' academic achievement motivation. Cartoon characters were used to present motivational concepts such as causal attributions, self-efficacy, persistence,…

This phase of the downstate Illinois bilingual education program included: locating all past data still in existence in 1976; determining what data were actually retrievable and usable; reporting on these data retrospectively; and finally, collecting new data for a continuing longitudinal study. There were 44 school districts with 4,579 students…

The National Longitudinal Evaluation of Comprehensive School Reform (NLECSR) is a quantitative and qualitative study of behavior, decisions, processes, and outcomes. It employs a quasi-experimental design with matched treatment and comparison schools. NLECSR seeks to determine the effects of CSR models on student achievement in about 650…

The "No Child Left Behind" Act mandated the need for research-based interventions to increase and to improve learning and achievement for all youngsters. Research in computer-based instruction and intervention for learning basic skills and related achievements in content area subjects has documented the need for controlled investigations…

Executive Order 13096 seeks to improve the educational achievement and academic progress of American Indian and Alaska Native students. Section F of the Order requires the U.S. Department of Education to develop and implement a research agenda for that purpose. Among other things, the research agenda is to include an evaluation of the role of…

In 1992, the U.S. Departments of Defense and Education jointly created a new high school program aimed at encouraging at-risk youth to remain in school until graduation. The program, which is a marriage of the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) and the comprehensive high school reform initiative known as career academies, was called…

This study investigated the relationship between demographic characteristics of Pennsylvania career and technical education (CTE) instructors and program expectations for secondary students with and without disabilities. Respondents' gender, age, level of education, years in current position, years in education, and training in special needs (i.e.…

The academic performance of students enrolled in a distance education dental hygiene program at Northcentral Technical College (NTC) in Wausau, Wisconsin, was analyzed in a comparative, quasi-experimental study. The study sample consisted of five cohorts of program graduates (students graduating in 1997-2001). The experiment groups were divided…