The inability of the United States to narrow the achievement gap stems to a large extent from school reform initiatives that neglect the specific conditions in the lives of low-income students that contribute heavily to inadequate school performance. A new consensus is emerging that a more effective approach would be to prevent the achievement gap…

Student achievement in mathematics has been a focal concern in the United States for many years. The National Research Council's 2001 report and the recent report of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel (2008) both called attention to student achievement in mathematics, and both called for all students to learn algebra by the end of eighth…

NovaNET is a technology-based teacher-facilitated educational approach used at schools to support students at risk of not meeting graduation requirements to accrue credits in a variety of subjects. NovaNET contributes to the WCPSS goal of closing achievement gaps and creating opportunities for all students to graduate on time. In 2008-09, 38…

Funders and program planners want to know: What does it cost to operate a high-quality after-school or summer program? This study answers that question, discovering that there is no "right" number. Cost varies substantially, depending on the characteristics of the participants, the goals of the program, who operates it and where it is located.…

For many children in America, summer vacation means camp, trips to new or familiar destinations, visits to museums, parks and libraries, and a variety of enriching activities--either with families or as part of a summer learning program. But for millions of others, when schools close for the summer, safe and enriching learning environments are out…

The National Writing Project (NWP) is the nation's premier professional development network dedicated to improving the teaching of writing. The NWP network comprises nearly 200 local sites in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. This report presents the results of a seven-year survey study of teachers participating in NWP summer…

This report presents data revealing the participation rates of people with disabilities in Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) programs for the program year July 1, 1987 to June 30, 1988. Four charts are included in the paper. The charts display state-by-state participation rates for: both adults and youth with disabilities in the JTPA's Title…

During the 2005-06 school year, Save the Children supported 47 local programs in its model literacy initiative. Twenty of the sites operated for the first time during the 2005-06 school year, while 15 began operation in the spring of the 2004-05 school year, and the remaining 12 began operation during the 2003-04 school year. Services at local…

There is abundant evidence that schools with strong reading programs have successful students. But building strong reading skills is a complex task, particularly by the time students reach the middle grades. A survey was conducted that involved all Indiana middle grades schools in May 2009. Two types of data analysis were utilized in preparing the…

At the end of the 1999-2000 school year, 9,175 students in grades 3-8 in the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS), North Carolina, failed to score at or above grade level on either reading or mathematics, or both sections of the North Carolina End-of-Grade (EOG) tests. Under the new WCPSS promotion/intervention policy in effect for the…

Wake Summerbridge is an enrichment program that has supported selected Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) (North Carolina) middle school students for a number of years. This evaluation compared subsequent academic performance, suspensions, and dropout rates of students who had participated in the program with a comparison group of students…

School-age children ages 5 through 12 years spend their out-of-school time in many different types of arrangements. In addition to parental care, these include relative care, non-relative care (either in their own or another family's home), center- or school-based programs, sports and extracurricular activities, summer activities, and self-care.…

This report was requested by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA), Office of Education in July 2009 to evaluate the Informal Education Program. The goals of the evaluation were twofold: (1) to gain insight into its investment in informal education; and (2) to clarify existing distinctions between its informal education…

To help address continuing disparities in academic achievement and under-representation of disadvantaged groups in math and science majors and careers, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) established a math and science initiative in 1990 within Upward Bound, a federal grant program known as Upward Bound Math-Science (UBMS) designed to provide…

This Issue Brief provides a description of children?s participation in various activities during the summer after kindergarten. Children?s participation in activities is compared across a measure of SES. This Brief also takes a closer look at one summer activity in particular?children?s library use. The Issue Brief draws on data from the Early…