This article presents an overview of a strengths-based school discipline initiative that was developed in response to the high suspension and expulsion rates of African American and Latino male students at a racially diverse, urban high school in California. A school task force made up of adult and youth stakeholders devised a series of…

Situating parental involvement in education within a sociohistorical context, this case study of a Nicaraguan immigrant household in California contrasts the perspectives of two sisters-in-law who shared a home and whose daughters attended the same urban elementary school. Although the two women were involved in their daughters' schooling in…

The American education system is failing Latina/o students. Despite their significant representation in the student population, Latina/o students struggle in overcrowded, under-resourced schools and are too often limited to vocational curricula instead of college-bound options. About half of Latina/o students complete their K-12 education, and…

Background: Depression is prevalent among children and adolescents and often goes untreated with adverse effects on academic success and healthy development. Depression screening can facilitate early identification and timely referral to prevention and treatment programs. Conducting school-based emotional health screening, however, raises the…

This edition of "Beating the Odds" presents student achievement from 2008 to 2009. Individual district profiles of student achievement are presented. [For a related report, "Beating the Odds: Analysis of Student Performance on State Assessments and NAEP. Results from the 2008-09 School Year," see ED508975.]

Drawing from data collected through classroom observations and in-depth interviews, this article describes and analyzes practices identified as culturally responsive by Latinos students in an urban, multiethnic/racial context. The findings suggest that culturally responsive pedagogy must be more broadly conceptualized to address the cultural…

This report summarizes preliminary and exploratory research conducted by the Council of the Great City Schools and the American Institutes for Research on urban school systems participating in the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The study is one of the first large-scale analyses…

This is a qualitative study in a school district in a large city in the Southwest in response to the research question, "What are staff and student expectations for, and assessment of, three "at-risk" programs in this large school district?" Four thematic findings from observations and interviews in four classes in two high school alternative…

This paper shows how Latina, immigrant mothers expanded their mathematical boundaries by participating in a community mathematization project. These mothers were not only participants, but also curriculum designers in collaboration with university researchers. By involving the mothers in the design of the project, researchers improved the…

Two schools in Michigan received ARRA SIG (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act School Improvement Grants) funds to enable them to implement their improvement efforts. This paper describes the outcomes of these two ARRA SIG recipient schools: (1) Phoenix Elementary-Middle School; and (2) Arthur Hill High School. The experiences of these…

This research brief examines high school students' coursetaking in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects. As technical and scientific innovation increasingly drives the global economy, educators and experts in technical fields have expressed concern about the academic preparation of U.S. students in STEM fields. Using…

This qualitative, longitudinal study documents the academic and professional journeys of 8 college graduates or "scholars" of the Paterson Teachers for Tomorrow (PT4T) program. Data from this study further contribute to the growing body of research focusing on preparing diverse candidates--particularly those from urban and low…

Background: Anger, a component of negative affect, has previously been associated with increased drug use primarily among white high school-aged students. However, few studies have examined these associations over time, and fewer have examined them among younger adolescents and students of color. Affective factors may play a greater role in drug…

The goal of the study was to examine whether social motives (social mimicry, mutual attraction, and unreciprocated attraction) predict changes in antisocial behavior across middle school grades. The 2,003 initial participants (55% girls) were drawn from a larger longitudinal study of urban public school students: 44% Latino, 26% African-American,…

Across race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, the college aspirations of America's high school students continue to rise. Yet, in spite of their high aspirations, many students of color and many students from low socioeconomic backgrounds are underrepresented in the nation's postsecondary educational institutions. The under representation of…