The demographics of massive open online course (MOOC) analytics show that the great majority of learners are highly qualified professionals, and not, as originally envisaged, the global community of disadvantaged learners who have no access to good higher education. MOOC pedagogy fits well with the combination of instruction and peer community…

This study evaluated participation in the "Imagination Library" early childhood literacy enrichment program and children's pre-literacy and pre-numeracy skills at kindergarten entry in an urban school district. Previous studies have demonstrated that program participation is associated with greater early childhood reading practices.…

Problem Statement: Socio-economic background plays an important role in academic achievement, but there is a group of students beating the odds and becoming successful despite the socio-economic background of their families. Purpose of the Study: The study aimed to define how resilient students succeed at school despite their socio-economically…

Title I schools that serve a large population of low-income students often view families through the lens of an outdated paradigm of family engagement in education, assuming parents are mostly uneducated, ill informed, and much in need of training and support to be good parents. "Comunitario" projects in the Rio Grande Valley of south…

In developing the next generation of school leadership, school districts across the United States and internationally must consider who is being promoted, the training they are able to access beyond traditional university degree work, the schools in which these emerging leaders enter their first principalships, and how prepared these new leaders…

Learning is not just a cognitive process. Research shows that powerful social and emotional factors affect learning. These factors influence students' abilities to attend to and direct their learning; students' engagement in learning activities; and teachers' ability to connect with, challenge, and support students. Social and emotional factors…

The impact of socio-economic background on mathematics performance in England can be seen from the most to least disadvantaged. As socio-economic background of pupils increases, so does average mathematics performance; the gap between the most and least disadvantaged is equivalent to over three years' of schooling. However, many factors other than…

How can technologies and digital learning experiences be used to support underserved, under-resourced, and underprepared students? For many years, educators, researchers, and policy makers looking for strategies to close the achievement gap and improve student learning have sought solutions involving new uses of technology, especially for students…

This systematic review of research on early childhood programs seeks to identify effective approaches capable of improving literacy and language outcomes for preschoolers. It applies consistent standards to determine the strength of evidence supporting a variety of approaches, which fell into two main categories: "comprehensive…

This document records testimony from a hearing held to discuss strategies for improving postsecondary access and completion for low-income and first-generation students. The hearing served as an opportunity to learn about efforts to pioneer new strategies and study the effectiveness of existing strategies so that more disadvantaged students can…

The author opens this conversation with noted educator and authoress, Maya Angelou, by asking: "How does resilience develop, and how can we instill it in others?" Azzam notes that if there is anyone who knows something about "resilience" (the theme of this issue of "Educational Leadership") it is Maya Angelou. Dr.…

The prevailing school reform dogma is wrong: Schools alone can't be expected to make up for the impediments to learning that are commonly associated with poverty, the authors say. Disadvantaged children need and deserve great teachers and schools, and they need many other sources of support. The question though, is how much would those extra…

Although vocational education and training is considered to be a good option for improving livelihood opportunities for marginalised youth in developing countries, it often suffers from an image problem. This situation affects the quality of entrants, instruction and skills acquisition in training programmes. In this article, the researchers…

Drawing on social closure theory, this study achieved a deep understanding of the perceptions and experiences of the first cohort of candidates passing through the Thuthuka support programme. Using semi-structured interviews as part of a qualitative approach, currently prevalent modes of professional closure were considered by taking the…

Researchers have become increasingly interested in programs' main and interaction effects of two variables (A and B, e.g., two treatment variables or one treatment variable and one moderator) on outcomes. A challenge for estimating main and interaction effects is to eliminate selection bias across A-by-B groups. I introduce Rubin's causal model to…