To gain insight into the farm to school practices implemented across the country, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (USDA FNS) regularly conducts the Farm to School Census (Census). The Census is an online survey sent to all school food authorities (SFAs) in the U.S. and its territories that participate in the National…

Recognizing that a successful middle school is one where adult advocates foster and guide students' academic and personal development (Bishop & Harrison, 2021), we explore how COVID-19 acted as a catalyst for one middle school to create novel spaces that supported students' social and emotional well-being. Calling on Bhabha's (1994) and…

This paper examines the effect of school turnaround in North Carolina elementary and middle schools. Using a regression discontinuity design, we find that turnaround led to a drop in average school-level math and reading passing rates and an increased concentration of low-income students in treated schools. We use teacher survey data to examine…

This report presents descriptive findings on school practices in 12 states for schools explicitly held accountable for the performance of the students with disabilities (SWD) subgroup. The study found that, when surveyed in 2011, elementary schools accountable for the SWD subgroup were 15.8 percentage-points more likely than never-accountable…

Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) has joined a number of school districts across the country implementing the K-8 model of education. In the 2011-2012 academic year, eight CMS elementary schools integrated middle grades to become PK-8 schools. These schools are part of an evaluation to identify effective practices in the transition process,…

In 2011-2012, eight schools in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) adopted a PK-8 structure. The Office of Program Evaluation in the College of Education at the University of South Carolina is collaborating with the CMS Center for Research and Evaluation to better understand the PK-8 transition process as well as academic and behavioral…

Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, or GEAR UP, is a federally-funded system of grants that focuses on preparing low-income students to enter and succeed in postsecondary educational programs. GEAR UP grants extend across 6 school years and require that funded districts begin providing grant services to students no…

The federal Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, or GEAR UP, project strives to equalize low-income students' access to higher education by increasing their participation in rigorous coursework, providing expanded opportunities for low-income students and parents to learn about postsecondary educational opportunities…

Previous work by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (K. Liu, Koo, Barrera, & Thurlow, 2008) documented that principals in 10 "successful" middle schools (defined as those making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) with ELLs and students with disabilities) were knowledgeable and concerned about the special education referral…

This report describes the development and field test of "Make It Happen!," a school-based approach to integrating technology into the middle school curriculum. This activity, conducted between October 1989 and May 1991, constituted Phase II of a 5-year study of technology integration for mildly handicapped students in four middle schools…

Six classroom research-based instructional projects funded under Chapter 2 are described, and their outcomes are summarized. The projects each used computer hardware and software in the classroom setting. The projects and their salient points include: (1) the Science Technology Project, in which 48 teachers and 2,847 students in 18 schools used…