The paper evaluates math performance at four high-need middle schools during a four-year intervention, which was designed to help math teachers diagnose students' areas of need and to design lesson plans responsive to those needs. Before the intervention began, the researchers pre-selected four comparison schools by matching based on achievement…

For many years, the conventional wisdom in the field was that grade retention was a bad idea. A 1997 opinion piece in "Education Week" titled "Grade retention doesn't work" reflected the prevailing sentiment in the education community and the available research evidence at that time: retained students performed worse than their…

Special education and related professionals often understand the importance of adhering to intervention procedures (i.e., fidelity), but may be less familiar with concepts of intervention intensity. In some cases, professionals may correctly apply an intervention, but with insufficient intensity. This can result in an intervention failing to…

The pandemic created daunting challenges for higher education. The federal government provided California Community Colleges billions of dollars in aid for students and institutions. How did they use these funds? How well did their pandemic recovery activities and investments help reengage students? What will institutions do when the money runs…

This article focuses attention on a critical need for more evidence-based social emotional learning (SEL) programs for middle school students. First, we explore the definition of SEL, pointing out how it has evolved as our world has changed. We review key SEL domains and skills and describe universal school-based SEL programming as one approach to…

The concept of "acceleration" continues to pay subject to a number of controversial debates in education. Much of the controversy around the concept can be associated with the beliefs and attitudes of educators, which have little or no grounds in research (Vialle, Ashton, Carlon, & Rankin, 2001). While acceleration takes on many…

The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound effect on higher education and students. In the spring of 2020, amidst great uncertainty, many colleges and universities closed campuses and abruptly shifted from in-person to virtual instruction to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Several studies point to negative impacts of these disruptions on…

Pursuant to California Education Code Section 88750, the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office and the Board of Governors for California Community Colleges are pleased to release the Cal LAW Legislative Report. The report includes information on program implementation; program outcomes, including student participation and the…

In this article, we introduce the term "vulnerability to achievement stressors," which refers to differentially low achievement when shifts in the educational environment "stress" or threaten the capacity of an individual or a group of individuals to make academic progress. We also introduce a methodological framework for…

In March 2022, Child Trends contracted with the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) to conduct an independent evaluation of Parent Aware, Minnesota's quality rating and improvement system (QRIS) for early care and education (ECE) programs. The evaluation was passed by the Minnesota Legislature in 2021 and includes several…

School partnerships support the effective provision of Vocational Education and Training (VET) in the senior years of secondary schooling, to a varying degree, in most OECD nations. However, the nature and quality of these partnerships vary considerably from school to school and, indeed, from nation to nation (see Murray and Polesel, "Eur J…

Approaches to identify and support student social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) needs are necessary to the provision of school-based prevention and intervention services. Limited information exists, however, regarding the current use of SEB practices such as screening in schools. The purpose of The National Exploration of Emotional/Behavioral…

In this article, we introduce the term "vulnerability to achievement stressors," which refers to differentially low achievement when shifts in the educational environment "stress" or threaten the capacity of an individual or a group of individuals to make academic progress. We also introduce a methodological framework for…

In the year 2015, Austria was one of the main European destinations of displaced persons. According to education authorities around 15,000 children with a forced migration background of school age who arrived in Austria over the course of a few months from late 2015 to the beginning of 2016 called for immediate and partly temporary solutions. Due…

In the United States, educator preparation is regulated at the state level. Accordingly, each state education system, and even individual districts, responded uniquely to the COVID-19 pandemic. Western Governors University (WGU) compiled a list of each state regulators' response to COVID, many of which included relaxation of student teaching…