The Pennsylvania Department of Education's (PDE's) Office for Safe Schools partnered with REL Mid-Atlantic to conduct a study using data from PDE's school climate survey. This survey, which is available on a voluntary basis to any school in the state, provides a way to track school climate and identify schools that need additional support to…

These are the appendixes for the full report, "Changes in School Climate during COVID-19 in a Sample of Pennsylvania Schools." The REL study analyzed changes in scores from a pre-pandemic year (2018/19) to the 2020/21 and 2021/22 school years, both of which were affected by COVID-19 and related policy changes. These technical appendixes…

Over the last several decades, "zero-tolerance" policies have been implemented by federal, state, and local educational systems, which have altered the culture of learning. A consequence of this "tough on education" culture is what some scholars have called the "school-to-prison-pipeline" which disproportionately…

This report investigates the relationship between those students who were bullied online or by text and their demographic characteristics. It also examines students' reports of the overall negative effects of being bullied online or by text, as well as avoidance behaviors, impacts on attendance, and whether victims notified an adult of the…

Federal data show that many girls are struggling across almost all measures of well-being--including substance use, experiences of violence, mental health, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Girls' well-being can be affected by their experiences in public schools, and the detrimental effects of removing students from the classroom for discipline…

COVID-19 has become one of the greatest health crises ever to face the United States. Among other broad social and economic effects, the pandemic led to the closure of almost all schools to in-person instruction in spring 2020. Heated controversies emerged about whether to reopen schools in person in fall 2020, and the debate around reopening…

The primary purpose of this report is to examine the entries into and transfers between charter and traditional schools in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) from October 2017 to October 2018. The sample for the study consisted of three groups: (1) students in the M-DCPS who attended the traditional or the charter schools during both…

This study presents a longitudinal analysis of racial inequities evidenced in placement patterns in the least restrictive environment (LRE). We compared placement trends in neighborhoods and charter schools for Black and White students receiving special education services (SRSES). Drawing from the concept of "institutional isomorphism"…

Unlike previous years of our "Schooling in America" survey project, our researchers are releasing multiple sets of results in a new, chart-focused format. This report is focused on questions we asked about families' homeschooling experiences and their opinions about homeschooling during the pandemic. We also include breakouts to show…

We examined the effects of a teacher coaching program on discipline referrals using records from 7,794 U.S. classrooms in secondary schools. Some classroom teachers took part in a trial: They were randomized to receive intensive coaching in a focal classroom or to form a business-as-usual control group. The remaining teachers taught in the same…

This paper examines educational segregation in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro through the lens of a multifaceted centreperiphery relationship involving geographical, racial and historical dimensions. The paper first situates Brazilian racial inequalities historically, drawing on decolonial theory, before examining student enrolment patterns…

This study builds on a 2019 Fordham Institute report that examined the relationship between charter school enrollment share--the share of students in a community who enroll in a charter school--and the average achievement of all the students in that community, including those in traditional public schools. Like its predecessor, this report seeks…

This memorandum provides information related to Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) course enrollment, exam participation, and exam performance during the 2020-2021 school year in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). In this memo, the results of 2021 students were compared with those of 2019 students. It is important…

There is fear that adolescents have limited control over their digital technology use. The current research examines longitudinal (Study 1) and daily (Study 2) associations between U.S. adolescents' self-control and digital technological impairment and use. Using a large sample (N = 2,104; Wave 1: M[subscript age] = 12.36, 52% female, 57%…

The number of secondary-level students with high-functioning autism (HFA) served in public school settings has increased in recent years, and many of these students have difficulty with social-behavioral expectations in such settings. Instructional specialists must know which interventions have been shown to be effective, so they can make informed…