Every fall, eighth graders participate in the School District of Philadelphia's high school application and admissions process, vying for spots in a tiered system of public high schools across the city. This policy brief looks at disparities in the students who are successful in exercising school "choice" in the District's high school…

The incidence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the United States is among the highest in the western industrialized world. Nearly 19 million new STDs are diagnosed each year, and more than 65 million Americans live with an incurable STD, such as herpes and human papillomavirus (HPV). Young people, in particular, are at a heightened risk…

Drawing on theories of symbolic interaction, some researchers have suggested that negative reflected appraisal imposes a "delinquent" identity on adolescents whom adults and peers perceive as delinquent, creating ego identity discomfort that these adolescents seek to mitigate through association with drug-using peers for whom the…

This paper profiles the student subgroup achievement and gap trends in Wyoming for 2010. Wyoming's demographic profile is such that achievement trends could only be determined for white, Latino, male and female, and low-income student subgroups. In grade 8 (the only grade in which subgroup trends were analyzed by achievement level), the white,…

Magnet high school attendance seems to lead to improved academic performance (Cobb, Bifulco, & Bell, 2009; U.S. Department of Education, 2008; Yu & Taylor, 1997). Likewise, perceived social support has been linked with positive outcomes for adolescents, including improved academic performance (Rosenfeld, Richman, & Bowen, 2000; Demaray & Malecki,…

This report contains trend data on the retention, graduation, and transfer rates of first-time, full-time students at Maryland community colleges from 1997 to 2007. Specifically, the report presents retention and graduation data for students two, three and four years after matriculation into a community college. The data is presented for the…

In the United States in 2011, more than one in four people were going to school. This included many types of people--children going to nursery school and elementary school, young adults attending high school and college, and adults taking classes to obtain a degree or diploma. What is known about these people--their age and sex, where they live,…

We use panel data on Florida high school students to examine race, poverty, and gender disparities in advanced course-taking. While white students are more likely to take advanced courses than black and Hispanic students, these disparities are eliminated when we condition on observable pre-high school characteristics. In fact, black and Hispanic…

This study examined correlates of methamphetamine (MA) and marijuana (MJ) use and treatment response among treatment-involved youth (N = 4,430) in Los Angeles County, California treated between 2000 and 2005. Of the sample, 912 (21%) were primary MA and 3,518 (79%) were primary MJ users. Correlates of increased MA use included being female, White,…

The aim of this study is to provide school social workers with an outline of the indicators common to school fire setters regarding their experiences of bullying and victimization by bullies. A sample of juvenile fire setters (N = 379) between the ages of five and seventeen years attending a fire-setter intervention program completed a modified…

Hmong American adolescents' perceptions of their parents were examined using the parenting styles and family ecologies models. Individual interviews of forty 11- to 18-year-old Hmong American teenagers resulted in open-ended and fixed-choice responses. In the open-ended responses, adolescents emphasized themes of parental involvement and depending…

Using data from Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count, this issue of "Data Notes" is the first of a two-part series investigating which academic terms have the highest frequency of stop-outs at Achieving the Dream colleges. In this issue, students who stop out during high-frequency terms are examined by enrollment status, gender, and…

In classrooms around the country, AP (Advanced Placement) teachers are preparing students for tomorrow by teaching them how to think and learn today. AP students learn to construct solid arguments, test theories, and see many sides of an issue--the kind of thinking that solves tough problems both in and outside the classroom, in college and…

This report presents results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) U.S. science assessment in 2011. A representative sample of 122,000 eighth-graders participated in the 2011 NAEP science assessment, which is designed to measure students' knowledge and abilities in the areas of physical science, life science, and Earth and…

A strong economy requires a highly educated workforce, especially in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. In the United States, STEM degree production has stagnated, despite employment projections forecasting a 17% growth in the field over the next decade. Two key criteria influence progression through the STEM education…