Recent policy discussions have proposed government-guaranteed jobs, including for youth. One key potential benefit of youth employment is a reduction in criminal justice contact. Prior work on summer youth employment programs has documented little-to-no effect of the program on crime during the program but has found decreases in violent and other…

This report examines the value of SAT scores for determining merit-based scholarship decisions as well as admission to highly selective academic programs such as honors programs or colleges. Results show that the SAT is a highly effective tool for predicting students' chances of earning a first-year grade point average (FYGPA) of 3.00 or higher…

The Boston Public Schools (BPS) district is the first large school system in the United States to design and implement a curriculum and professional model--called "Focus on Early Learning"--to align instruction across its well-known, high-quality public school pre-K program and early elementary school grades. Schools opt in and can…

Charter schools are highly debated in policy and political discussions about delivering public education. As "laboratories of innovation" that often use lotteries to assign spots, they hold the potential to generate rigorous evidence about effective educational practices. This paper synthesizes and summarizes findings from charter…

The past three decades have seen charter schools emerge as a prominent and controversial alternative to traditional public schools. This policy brief examines "Thirty Years of Charter Schools: What Does Lottery-Based Research Tell Us?" which summarizes 40 studies that have used lottery research designs to analyze how charter schools…

Success Academy is a rapidly expanding charter school network in New York City, with schools located in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens. In the 2016-2017 school year, Success Academy served roughly 14,000 students across 41 elementary, middle, and high schools, which at the time was about 13 percent of the students attending charter…

The creation of racially diverse colleges at all levels of selectivity has proven to be no small task, even with the legal use of race-conscious affirmative action. As evidenced in the postsecondary destinations of the high school class of 2004, very selective schools (those with Barron's Selectivity rankings of 1, 2 or 3) have many more White,…

The authors are presently in the fourth year of a six-year, lottery-based randomized control trial (RCT) studying the effectiveness of nine Colorado charter schools that have implemented Core Knowledge®. Core Knowledge (CK) is a comprehensive K-8 curriculum for language arts, math, science, social studies, visual arts, and music that is intended…

Holding a summer job is a rite of passage in American adolescence, a first rung towards adulthood and self-sufficiency. However, over the past decade, youth employment during the summer has decreased significantly. Summer youth employment has the potential to benefit high school students' educational outcomes and employment trajectories,…

The quality of job outcomes achieved by youth with disabilities who are transitioning into employment varies widely across the country. Special education teachers, youth with disabilities, families, community rehabilitation program (CRP) staff providing employment services, and others involved in assisting transitioning youth can benefit from a…

Charter middle schools popular enough to hold admissions lotteries are, on average, no more successful than nearby traditional public schools in boosting student achievement, behavior, and attendance. However, charter schools vary widely; some are more effective and some are less effective than nearby traditional public schools. Those located in…

Adding to the growing debate and evidence base on the effects of charter schools, this evaluation was conducted in 36 charter middle schools in 15 states. It compares the outcomes of 2,330 students who applied to these schools and were randomly assigned by lotteries to be admitted (lottery winners) or not admitted (lottery losers) to the schools.…

In 1795 America's preeminent scholarly organization sponsored a contest for the best essay on education. The two winners have been canonized in the scholarship on early American educational thought. This essay refocuses attention on the great contest itself, not only seeking understanding of the works that it produced but also analyzing its…

The development of entrepreneurial skills and knowledge is a priority for governments that want to encourage an innovative and enterprising society. Furthermore, education institutions are becoming increasingly required by employers to produce graduates that have practical, real-world skills. Business plan competitions, although primarily aimed at…