Preparation for college and careers begins when students are young, yet, it can be difficult for middle grade educators to know how best to prepare these students for future success. Middle grade practitioners need to know what to pay attention to and who needs additional support. Without knowing how to identify students who are on-track for high…

Every student absence jeopardizes the ability of students to succeed at school and schools to achieve their mission. School attendance is a constant concern in schools. Average daily attendance rates are a common determiner of school funding, so schools funded on the basis of average daily attendance have less resources to do the job. Students who…

In the first decade of the 21st century, the New York City (NYC) Department of Education implemented a set of large-scale and much debated high school reforms, which included closing large, low-performing schools, opening new small schools, and extending high school choice to students throughout the district. The school closure process was the…

This descriptive and case-control study was carried out in a pediatric oncology outpatient clinic to determine the school-related physical, social, and psychological problems and problems experienced in academic achievement of children treated for cancer. The sample of the study consisted of 56 Turkish patients with cancer, aged 7-18 years, who…

Started in 1999, the biennial National School Climate Survey has documented the unique challenges lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students face and identified interventions that can improve school climate. The 2013 survey examines the experiences of LGBT students with regard to indicators of negative school climate. It also…

Lack of progress for improving the lives of kids is unacceptable. All children need stability and a path to opportunity. This is true for nearly half of California's children who live in low-income families, where caregivers struggle to afford the quality support and services they need for their kids. This is also true for the approximately…

In 2006, the University of Pittsburgh Office of Child Development began implementing a multi-year school readiness project in several area schools. Evidence from both research and the field point to several key elements that foster school readiness and create pathways to school success for all children. This paper presents components of a…

This fact sheet draws from surveys administered to a cohort of 416 participants in 7th grade in 2008, again when they were in 8th grade in 2009, and most recently as 10th graders in 2011 to look at patterns of participation in structured activities over time and whether male and female students differ in these patterns of participation. It also…

Truancy is well documented as an indicator of high risk for drop-out and failure to graduate, as well as a risk factor for delinquency. This report provides a snapshot of truancy in District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) high schools and middle schools in 2010-11. School data on student absenteeism was combined with Census and crime data on…

The gap between the levels of learning that education systems are providing and what children, communities and economies need, is growing. The breadth and depth of this learning crisis constitute the greatest global challenge to preparing children and adolescents for life, work and active citizenship. The lesson of the learning crisis is clear:…

This paper has been written specifically from two perspectives. First, because of the research and professional activity carried out by the author in the field for over forty years. Second, as a consequence of the author chairing the National Behaviour and Attendance Review (NBAR) in Wales and writing the subsequent Report (NBAR 2008), as well as…

As numerous studies from 1906 on have confirmed, children lose ground in learning if they lack opportunities for building skills over the summer. Nonetheless, summer learning loss comes up but rarely in the national discussion of education reform. By the end of summer, students perform on average one month behind where they left off in the spring.…

This paper discusses some of the major concerns associated with the instructional process of our homeless children. The reader is provided with a brief overview of the prevalence of this population. According to the National Center on Family Homelessness the number of school children who are homeless is growing rapidly with 1.4 to 1.5 million…

The presence of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) impairs social, emotional and academic functioning. Individuals with OCD may have co-morbid disorders including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, oppositional defiant disorder, or Tourette syndrome. Challenges occur when students with OCD become a part of the general education…

This policy brief is a guide for state education policy leaders to use in selecting and prioritizing college- and career-ready student performance indicators. These indicators can be built into the state's accountability system through public reporting, statewide performance goals, school-level incentives, and accountability formulas used to…