This report investigates the link between different 5 percentage point bandings of attendance and attainment for pupils at the end of Key Stage 2 (KS2) and Key Stage 4 (KS4) in state-funded mainstream schools in 2022/23. Absence from school is not the only factor that is likely to affect a pupil's level of attainment. There are a range of pupil,…

Free school meal access has become increasingly intertwined with federal social safety net programs--including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)--to reduce duplicative paperwork for schools. The changes to SNAP that House Republicans have proposed would have downstream effects on free school meal access. The proposed changes to…

The purpose of this quantitative, correlational-predictive study was to assess if and to what extent second-grade student race (operationalized as minority status) and student socioeconomic status (operationalized as eligibility for Free and Reduced Lunch) predict second-grade student classification as gifted under two scenarios: using the current…

This study investigates the implementation and impact of the community eligibility provision (CEP) in Maryland schools. The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) is a federal school-based meal service option that allows high poverty schools to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students at no cost. CEP was introduced over the period 2015 to…

To inform the use of universal social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) screening in secondary schools, we examined the functioning of the Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener--Student Rating Scale (mySAEBRS) across three occasions (fall, winter, and spring) in a sample of secondary students (Grades 6-12). With consideration for…

Free and reduced-price meal eligibility (FRM) is commonly used in education research and policy applications as an indicator of student poverty. However, using multiple data sources external to the school system, we show that FRM status is a poor proxy for poverty, with eligibility rates far exceeding what would be expected based on stated income…

This study investigates the impact of Education Endowment Foundation (EEF)-funded trials on pupils eligible for free school meals. Although similar analysis is conducted during each individual evaluation, this report conducts a meta-analysis using data from 88 trials and over half a million pupils to reach conclusions. The report contributes to…

This research examines the impact of recent and anticipated changes in free school meal eligibility on state-funded mainstream schools in England. In particular, our research focuses on the extent to which both the pandemic and transitional arrangements introduced to smooth the roll out of Universal Credit are affecting free school meal…

This dissertation consists of two chapters that examine the impact of educational and positive youth development programs on students' academic and behavioral outcomes. In the first chapter, I evaluate the effect of the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program, a school meal provision allowing schools meeting the eligibility requirements to…

Objective/Research Question: Community college "Promise" programs have proliferated recently, particularly in areas with many low-income, academically struggling students. Many Promise programs restrict eligibility by high school performance but set eligibility thresholds quite low. As such they function as "low-bar" merit…

Researchers examined the relationship between superintendent longevity and district variables on standardized test scores for students in North Carolina. The authors used hierarchical multiple regression to understand if superintendent-specific variables explained variance in student performance over and above district-based variables documented…

A common rationale for providing free lunch for all students is that selectively receiving a free meal at school generates stigma. This study examines the hypothesis that eligibility to receive a school free lunch has negative effects on student educational outcomes, and that this stigma-effect is more severe in schools where a low proportion of…

Research emerging from the USA suggests that holding an incremental theory of intelligence (growth mindset) has a positive impact on academic success. However, limited empirical work has explored this relationship in a UK sample, and there has been a lack of research into the antecedents which might influence the development of certain…

There is a large and long-standing gap in education outcomes between pupils from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers in England (EEF, 2018; Hutchinson et al., 2020). Although there is some evidence of improvement since 2011, the gap has widened recently, largely as a result of school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic…

Measures of socioeconomic status (SES) are widely used in educational research and policy applications, in large part due to overwhelming evidence linking SES to student achievement. SES is usually conceptualized as an unobservable factor--a construct--measured using variables such as parental education, occupation, income/wealth, and home…