The labor-market payoff to workers with associate degrees in healthcare and STEM occupations is very high in Massachusetts. We examine whether this induced a growing proportion of students in MA community colleges (MACCs) to earn an associate degree (AD) in one of these fields. We do this by using multinomial logit analysis to compare trends…

Historic and ongoing inequities in people's ability to access infrastructure--including differential access to services and supports that advance health outcomes and differential exposure to challenges that threaten well-being--reinforce disparate health and economic outcomes by race. Such inequities begin prenatally and accumulate over the course…

Research suggests that bullying victimization occurs at higher rates among students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) than among their typically-developing peers. This study used data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study 2012 to explore differences in student and family characteristics between students with ASD and students with all…

This study examined factors associated with students with disabilities (SWDs)' STEM major choice in postsecondary institutions. The major findings included: (1) SWDs with difficulty conversing had a greater likelihood of choosing STEM majors compared with their counterparts without such a difficulty in both two- and four-year institutions; (2)…

With the disruption of the pandemic, it is important to study first-year college students' learning experiences and its potential effect on education plans. To understand first-year college students' learning experiences after the transition to online instruction during the pandemic, in June 2020, the authors of this study reached out to…

This report examines the meaning and impact of the digital divide -- the gap between those who can and cannot access the Internet -- on college students during the COVID-19 emergency shift to remote learning. The assessment is based on several national surveys conducted in the spring or summer of 2020, as well as results from a large-scale survey…

Significant racial and ethnic achievement gaps exist between students in the U.S. by elementary school, although the underlying causes for these achievement gaps differ. One factor for racial/ethnic achievement gaps is between-group differences in socioeconomic status (SES), particularly exposure to poverty. Moreover, other factors contributing to…

Women are underrepresented in many undergraduate geoscience programs. Some departments are more successful at recruiting and retaining female students than others. To understand why, we investigated potential differences between more and less successful geoscience departments in terms of social support, institutional supports, institutional…

This document provides the survey methods appendix that accompanies the study, "Will Students Come Back? A July 2021 Parent Survey about School Hesitancy and Parental Preferences for COVID-19 Safety Practices in Schools. Research Report. RR-A1393-2" (ED615819). The appendix provides information about the sample, survey instrument, and…

It has gotten increasingly harder for students to work their way through college, especially for low-income students who face steep challenges when combining work and learning. Students from higher-income families tend to benefit as they work fewer hours in jobs directly related to their fields of study. Low-income working college students often…

Over the past half century, the relationship between working and learning has changed in profound ways that have made it more difficult for students, especially students from low-income backgrounds, to attain the right mix of work experience and schooling necessary to qualify for entry-level jobs with a future. The need for formal postsecondary…

The COVID-19 crisis has made delivering early intervention services much more challenging and could exacerbate racial inequities in health and education. But we can only fix what we can measure--so it is vital that states collect and report better data. A survey of state coordinators of early intervention services in fall 2020 focused on Black and…

Just as schools are working to appropriately address K-12 students' unfinished learning caused by the pandemic, early intervention systems are focusing on addressing the missed opportunities the pandemic created for young children and their families. Young children missing these opportunities for early intervention services are potentially at…

All young people have the potential to succeed--to do well academically, socially, and economically. Some young people, though, experience cumulative and chronic adversity along the way--disrupting their opportunities to thrive. Young people have the best chance to realize their potential when communities can intentionally align support with young…

Is income during children's earliest years a key determinant of long-term child and adult success in the longer run? The research to date, Christopher Wimer and Sharon Wolf write, suggests that it is. Wimer and Wolf review substantial descriptive evidence that income can enhance child development and later adult outcomes, and that it does so most…