Education is associated with improved health outcomes. However, fewer non-Hispanic Black Americans earn high school diplomas, baccalaureate, or advanced degrees than White Americans, placing them at higher risk for poor health outcomes. Racial disparities in education have been linked to social injustice and structural racism. Through the…

Utilizing a lottery-based natural experiment, this study assessed the longer-term impact of early colleges on postsecondary degree attainment. It found that early colleges significantly increased the overall degree completion and associate degree completion rates within 10 years of expected high school graduation. While the impact on bachelor's…

Bullying is a considerable problem among school students, and school-wide positive behaviour support interventions are regarded as helpful in addressing it. One approach is the CATZ Cross-age Teaching Zone anti-bullying intervention. The present study assessed the social validity of the CATZ anti-bullying intervention among a sample of…

Purpose: This study aimed to assess the impact of segment-specific physical activity (PA) recommendations during the school day on the daily PA in both boys and girls. Methods: A total of 426 Czech and 219 Polish adolescents participated in this study. They were divided into two groups: one receiving segment-specific PA recommendations for the…

This dissertation examines how implementing READ 180 for 9th grade students affects their Lexile level and reading ability. The research focuses on two questions: what changes were noticed in the students' Lexile levels? and what program recommendations can be made moving forward? The methodology used was PDSA and improvement science. The study…

Students with disabilities (SWD) continue to experience poorer postschool employment outcomes compared to their nondisabled peers, particularly those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Career and Technical Education (CTE) has been associated with improved academic and employment outcomes for SWD, yet research on their…

Local teacher recruitment through "grow-your-own" (GYO) programs is a prominent strategy to address workforce shortages and ensure that incoming teachers resemble, understand, and have strong connections to their communities. Despite the growing popularity of GYO programs, there is little credible evidence of their effectiveness. The…

Outdoor Adventure Education (OAE) is traditionally depicted as a hegemonic masculine domain. Thus, fundamental to any dialogue on gender in OAE is whether the outdoor experience reifies or disputes stereotypical gender roles. This study explores the influence of gender on the psychosocial outcomes and descriptions of gender-related influences on…

Most school districts across the United States face the challenge of chronic absenteeism among their student populations as a barrier to appropriate delivery of the educational process. Positive Behavior Intervention Supports (PBIS), is a research-based system designed to target and improve undesirable student behaviors. This quantitative study…

Youth who identify as transgender or gender non-conforming (TGNC) are at greater risk than their peers for mental health concerns. School staff knowledge and training on supporting the mental health of these students may have a significant effect on this population. To better understand where school staff are provided such training, we conducted a…

This study employed design-based logistic regression to examine the extent to which attending a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) magnet high school, school demographics, and student-level factors explain a student's intent to declare a STEM major in the first semester of college. The results show only student-level factors…

Today's hyper-partisan world makes civil discourse across differences seem almost impossible for many adults, let alone young people. U.S. public schools are tasked with educating our young people with the goal that they each can be productive members of society. High-school students participating in an intergroup dialogue on race as part of their…

Civil, informed debate is essential for any healthy democracy. This is truer than ever judging from the often uncivil, fact-free public discourse one sees too often on television and social media. But does participation in formal debate training improve educational outcomes? While policy debaters historically have come from high-income public…

This study examines the impact of high school academic indicators and participation in the federally funded Upward Bound program on college graduation rates for first-generation, low-income students. Specifically the extent to which participation in the federally funded TRIO Upward Bound program and related factors--high school GPA, course rigor,…

Local teacher recruitment through "grow-your-own" programs is a prominent strategy to address workforce shortages and ensure that incoming teachers resemble, understand, and have strong connections to their communities. We exploit the staggered rollout of the Teacher Academy of Maryland career and technical education certificate program…