In this analysis of 58 empirical studies of high school block scheduling, the authors report findings in and across five groupings. Within groups, data were inconsistent regarding whether teachers' practices changed, but teachers believed that staff development was necessary to teach in a block schedule. Block scheduling appeared to increase…

Students are under pressure from teachers, parents, and college admissions counselors to maintain high grade point averages, score well on high-stakes tests, participate in a variety of extracurricular activities, and gain admission to top colleges. In fact, surveys have found that most students identify academic pressure as the main reason for…

Research has focused on four groups of factors and the achievement gap: (1) student characteristics (high school GPA, attendance patterns, courses taken in high school, participation in extra-curricular activities, etc.); (2) family characteristics (family structure, in home, parents' level of education, mobility, etc.); (3) school-based…

The "Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006" ("Perkins IV" or "Perkins") requires states to report to the Department of Education each year on their progress in achieving their adjusted performance levels--negotiated with and approved by the Department--on the core indicators of performance (core…

In this report we focus on the use of propensity score methodology in multisite studies of the effects of educational programs and practices in which both treatment and control conditions are enacted within each of the schools in a sample, and the assignment to treatment is not random. A key challenge in applying propensity score methodology in…

This document reviews the results of five different reports related to admission standards and measures of achievement for first-time entering freshmen at South Carolina public senior colleges and universities. This document summarizes the results of five different reports related to admission standards and to measures of achievement of first-time…

The principal focus of this study is an investigation of whether students' grade point average (GPA) is a viable criterion for forming student work groups in the undergraduate Legal Environment of Business course. More specifically, the research focuses on the impact of: (1) GPA-homogeneous (HO) and GPA-heterogeneous (HE) groups upon student…

This two-phase study integrated quantitative and qualitative research methods to investigate the relationship between success outcomes of two-year college students with disabilities and self-determination, and how students with higher and lesser degrees of self-determination understand and describe the outcomes of their post-secondary experience.…

Objective: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with poor inhibition of prepotent responses and deficits in distractor inhibition, but relatively few studies have addressed inhibitory control of proactive interference (PI) in individuals with ADHD. Thus, the goal of the present study was to evaluate resistance to spatial…

This study investigates the role of social interaction in language gain among study abroad students in France. Using the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI), the Can-Do self-assessment scale (Clark, 1981), a revised version of the Language Contact Profile (LCP; Freed, Dewey, Segalowitz, & Halter, 2001), and pre- and postdeparture…

Alcohol use literature has linked heavy episodic alcohol use and academic consequences, but has not examined the influence of such use on student engagement. This study uses survey data from over 40,000 students at 28 selective private colleges and universities to examine the connection between heavy episodic alcohol use and engagement. The…

The document is a summary of the conference proceedings for the 23rd Annual Farmingdale State College Teaching of Psychology Conference held on March 20-21, 2009 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Tarrytown, New York. The conference featured a keynote address by Dr. Jeffrey Nevid on Reaching and teaching the millennials: Helping today's students become…

From the 3rd grade to the 11th grade, Jorge Martinez walked out of his front door each day hating the prospect of going to school. For most of those days, Martinez, now 17, was a target of bullies. But that was only half of it. There was discord at home. He says he was lazy and unmotivated, preferring to spend his time in front of the television,…

Using data from Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count, this issue examines the differing developmental needs and enrollment and persistence patterns of Achieving the Dream students by gender, with a focus on male students of color. The data show females in Achieving the Dream colleges, regardless of race, were less likely than males to…

Developmental Education programs are designed to provide assistance to students who are academically under-prepared for college-level coursework. Previous issues of "Data Notes" compared the outcomes of developmental students completing all of their required developmental courses to those not requiring developmental education. Using data…