For young people to learn, grow, and thrive, they must first be safe. In fiscal year 2020, approximately 618,000 children in the United States experienced abuse and neglect, and 1,750 died as a result. The effects of child abuse, which can include failure in school, depression, substance use, or involvement in the justice system, can be mitigated…

Several federal agencies, including the Small Business Administration (SBA), provide training and other assistance to veterans seeking civilian employment. In recent years, the unemployment rate among veterans as a whole has generally been similar to or lower than the unemployment rate for nonveterans 18 years and older. However, veterans who have…

On August 24, 2022, President Biden announced that his administration would be cancelling $10,000 -- $20,000 of student debt for middle- and lower-income borrowers. Naturally, this announcement has unleashed a wave of follow-up questions among borrowers. This fact sheet is intended to help Californians with student loans navigate the process of…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if there is a significant relationship between student achievement and teacher perceptions of school climate. An additional purpose of this study was to determine if there is a significant difference in teacher perceptions between Title 1 and non-Title 1 schools. The final purpose of this…

"A State Policy Landscape: K12 Climate Action" looks at key areas where states have policies that can support schools in moving toward climate action. This report highlights opportunities for growth by focusing on state-level policy in the following focus areas: (1) mitigation; (2) adaptation; and (3) education. In this report, the…

An integrated data system (IDS) that links information from separate administrative data systems offers policymakers, program administrators and researchers a powerful tool to analyze interactive effects across systems and make more informed decisions to improve outcomes for vulnerable families. This case study discusses how two states (Washington…

Kindergarten has become increasingly academically oriented, and U.S. kindergarten teachers are increasingly called upon to implement policies that require assessment and promote accountability. However, little recent research has focused on kindergarten teachers' beliefs about kindergarten readiness. The authors examined teachers' beliefs related…

This short-term longitudinal study examined how economically-impoverished children's moral reasoning predicts specific aggressive subtypes. Children (N = 106, M[subscript age] = 52.78 months, 51% boys, ethnically diverse backgrounds) from urban Head Start programs completed a structured story-interview pertaining to moral reasoning and judgement…

Grounded in Developmental Systems Theory, especially Ecological Systems Theory, and through the strength-based and whole child lenses, this study examines 15 interviews with Head Start professionals and explores alignment degree of their school readiness perception and practices. Adopting dual mapping, theme screening and in vivo coding, the…

Two-generation programs are designed to provide services to children and their parents, yet the extent to which parents use family well-being and self-sufficiency services is not widely known. We used data from the Head Start Impact Study to examine the effect of early care and education on parents' use of family services. Demographic…

Like many other countries, Canada's academic system has been challenged to achieve proportionate representation of historically underrepresented groups. Canadian equity law identifies four designated groups (FDG) for whom conditions of disadvantage shall be corrected: women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and members of visible…

Evaluators frequently confront situations in which local programs struggle to meet the expectations and requirements specified by the external program funder. How can evaluators meaningfully evaluate programs (for both the funder and grantee) in situations in which the external program logic clashes with local complexities? This paper discusses…

Employee performance is a critical factor in the success, or failure, of any organization. Therefore, it is paramount that the leadership and/or management team in an organization establishes and implements an approach that can effectively assess and evaluate the performance of its employees in an objective manner. Research administrators are…

This qualitative research study explores counternarratives to stereotypes and assumptions made about Black women on welfare in low-income, urban communities. Findings, based on in-depth interviews with 33 mothers and grandmothers, challenge perceptions of "welfare queens"--breeders of children, absorbed by the culture of poverty, and…

The Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) program provides cash benefits to federal, state, and local law enforcement officers; firefighters; employees of emergency management agencies; and members of emergency medical services agencies who are killed or permanently and totally disabled as the result of personal injuries sustained in the line of…