Student dress codes are controversial school policy in US schools. As dress codes were initially established with the intent to eliminate the appearance of differences among students and mitigate gang violence in schools, legal research has paid extensive attention to the value and constitutionality of these policies. Education research, however,…

School choice is expanding, but the majority of students in countries like the United States still attend the school associated with their residential address. We study assignment policies and reassignments of students, where students apply to attend a magnet school or request to transfer to another school within the public school system.…

In the wake of political and legal challenges facing race-based integration, districts have turned to socioeconomic integration initiatives in an attempt to achieve greater racial balance across schools. Empirically, the extent to which these initiatives generate such balance is an open question. In this article, we leverage the school assignment…

Homeschooling continues to experience unprecedented growth across the United States, including in North Carolina. More than 2 million children nationally and over 106,000 children in North Carolina are enrolled in homeschools. North Carolina's original homeschool law had long been interpreted to mean that parents had to provide all academic…

This case study explored the socioeconomic integration outcomes of a central North Carolina Public School District's recent elementary level redistricting process. The district's student assignment policy seeks to balance schools in part by the socioeconomic status of students. Previous redistricting efforts used free and reduced price lunch…

Though African-American youth in the South are at high risk for HIV infection, abstinence until marriage education continues to be the only option in some public schools. Using community-based participatory research methods, we conducted 11 focus groups with African-American adults and youth in a rural community in North Carolina with high rates…

This report presents the findings and recommendations of a follow-up to a 1981 survey of school discipline policies in 144 public school systems in North Carolina. Much progress since 1982 is reported, but the districts need to review and revise their policies and practices. The six central sections of the report focus on these topics: student…

Recent headlines in the North Carolina and national media illustrate that many schools are unsafe places for children and school staff. Problems associated with student misconduct and student crime can be found in schools and appear to be increasing. This publication identifies strategies for creating safe environments for learning in North…