This qualitative, multi-site case study across three McNair Scholars Programs uses interviews to explore Black students' aspirations to attend graduate school. While the undergraduate students in this study faced various personal and academic challenges at their predominantly white institutions (PWIs), all the 13 students used community cultural…

The present study examined how the dosage and quality of the federal preschool program "Head Start" (HS) in the US related to children's self-regulation skills in kindergarten. Using Propensity Score Matching and multiple regression (OLS), this study explored how the number of years and hours a week of HS were related to self-regulation…

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is a federal program that provides free and reduced priced lunch to millions of low-income children in urban schools. Empirical research shows mixed results on the physical and nutritional health of urban students participating in the program. However, a considerable limitation of this literature is that it…

Medicaid is a major insurer of autistic people. However, during the transition to adulthood, autistic individuals are more likely than people with intellectual disability to lose their Medicaid benefits. Individuals with intellectual disability may have greater success maintaining Medicaid coverage during this time because most states provide…

Head Start programs engage in multiple practices to support children and families during the transition to kindergarten. Children moving from Head Start to kindergarten often encounter discontinuities between the program and services they were receiving and the new elementary school environment. This paper uses multiple datasets and methods to…

This article reports findings from a small-scale case study that captured parents' views about their experiences of a targeted government funded programme of early childhood education and care for the 40% 'most disadvantaged' two-year-olds in England. The programme is funded in the context of national government policies oriented to (i) closing…

In 2015, the U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded pilot grants to 10 States--California, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington--to test innovative strategies for providing employment and training services through Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Employment and Training (SNAP…

The federal Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant program, which provided nearly $2 billion over four years to help community colleges meet employers' needs more effectively was a response to the 2008 recession. Distributed by the U.S. Department of Labor, the original TAACCCT funding brought colleges…

This article describes our experience of conducting a 5-year, culturally responsive evaluation of a federal program with Indigenous communities. It describes how we adapted tenets from "participatory evaluation models" to ensure cultural relevance and empowerment. We provide recommendations for evaluators engaged in similar efforts. The…

When students are food insecure, they often encounter adverse health, social, and academic outcomes, including harm to cognitive functions, mental health, and academic performance. Additionally, compared to food secure peers, students struggling with food insecurity are 43 percent less likely to graduate from college with a two- or four-year…

CalFresh benefits can help college students make ends meet while attending college, but not all eligible students apply. One contributing factor may be that students are not aware they are eligible. Therefore, outreach efforts informing them of their eligibility could help increase take-up rates. To test this, we designed and conducted two…

Researchers have noted large spatial variations in rates of food insecurity. But little research exists on why this is so and the impacts it has on rural families. Drawing on a mixed-methods longitudinal study with 124 poor and working-class households in North Carolina, we analyze the processes that shape lower-income rural families' access to…

Many preschool agencies nationwide continue to experience closures and/or conversions to virtual or hybrid instruction due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the importance of understanding young children's learning and development during the COVID emergency, limited knowledge exists on adaptable practices of assessing young children during…

Health coverage rates among undergraduate and graduate students have increased since the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010, from an estimated 81 percent in 2010 to 92 percent in 2022, according to GAO's analysis of Census data. However, as of 2022, an estimated 1.6 million students still lacked coverage, including…

Substance use--when people use drugs, alcohol, or tobacco in ways that can harm themselves or others--remains a persistent problem in the United States. Substance use can result in negative consequences, including poor school performance and diminished mental health. Research suggests that prevention programs for school-aged children may help…