The purpose of this qualitative exploratory multiple case study was to examine how and why some academically successful African American male students have successfully formed supportive relationships with their teachers. There exists a problem in which some teachers have difficulty in developing supportive relationships with African American…

The overall purpose of this study was to determine the impact of the School Improvement Grant on student achievement in a rural elementary school in Mississippi. In an attempt to decrease the achievement gap that existed among socioeconomically disadvantaged students and their more affluent peers, the United States Department of Education created…

This hearing is the first of six hearings the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions will hold to make sure that the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is being implemented in the way it was written in the states and school districts. The hearing focuses on the perspective of education leaders. After an opening statement from Honorable…

By now, it is pretty much common knowledge that Latinos comprise the nation's largest minority group, both as a percentage of the population (17.6 percent) and as a percentage of school-age students (25 percent). That is, one in four K-12 students in the United States is Latino or Latina. While the related challenges are often overemphasized, the…

In this Policy Memo, the author considers the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's newest effort, focused on "Networks for School Improvement," and how this initiative can learn from the Foundation's own past initiatives as well as from research evidence more generally. The author worries that in K-12 education, the Foundation has…

Children's Campaign examines child well-being across the state and identify data-driven solutions to improve the lives of Colorado's kids. In 2017, the Campaign was relentless in their efforts to ensure every chance for every child. Highlights for the year include: (1) Colorado's child poverty rate fell to 13 percent in 2016--its lowest point in…

This study investigated Resiliency for Academic Success factors and their possible impact on student achievement among urban high school students, focusing on multiracial students (Trueba, 2002). Educational researchers have investigated reasons for underperformance in academics among students of color. The finding indicates that some students,…

The academic needs of African-American girls too often are not linked to their intersecting identities. These interlocked identities often go unseen, thus are rarely addressed in K-12 schools. Specifically, their identities are neglected in some of their English Language Arts classrooms through the sole use of hegemonic literary practices.…

Background: Large achievement and motivation gaps exist in science between students from higher and lower socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds. Middle and high school are an important time to address these disparities, as science motivation typically declines for all students at this time, leading to particularly low science interest and…

This paper uses data from 4745 first-year accountancy students of a large South African university, for a 7-year period (2011-2017), to understand how certain skills endowments and individual attributes have changed in their contributions to student's performance over time. To do so, the variance associated with an external shock to the learning…

This study aims to understand the role that reading motivation plays in middle school reading achievement (including achievement gaps) by analyzing the 2015 grade 8 NAEP reading data. The study focuses on identifying the unique effects of student-level reading motivation and aggregated school-level mean reading motivation on reading achievement.…

The COVID-19 pandemic is overwhelming the functioning and outcomes of education systems--some of which were already stressed in many respects. The shutdown of schools, compounded by the associated public health and economic crises, poses major challenges to students and their teachers. The public education system was not built, nor prepared, to…

As part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), the U.S. Department of Education made available almost $3 billion for the Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER). Governors across the nation must be strategic with their use of GEER funds to support education in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. This brief…

This brief examines California's Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS), which is a framework designed to identify and assist students performing below grade level. MTSS involves at least three tiers of support; Tier 2 includes personalized assistance. Unfortunately, Tier 2 services are not adequately resourced so it is not surprising that…

This brief describes the types of college promises that exist in the state of California. In doing so, we summarize existing research on this topic. Furthermore, we provide a framework to study the California Promise Program in community colleges in California. We use publicly available data to highlight key aspects of our proposed framework: What…