The ambitious goal set by Colorado's governor to address the state's dropout problem is a model for the nation. Helping thousands of young people to receive their high school diplomas instead of leaving school without them is a crucial step in improving the quality of life for all Colorado residents. Accomplishing this goal will require focused…

In the economics of education, no task has been more important or more difficult than identifying the relationship between school inputs and student performance. The literature on this topic has reached little resolution, largely owing to the endogeneity of school resources. In this paper I examine the effect of a vital but little studied…

We evaluate multiple variants of a commonly used intervention to boost education in developing countries--the conditional cash transfer (CCT)--with a student level randomization that allows us to generate intra-family and peer-network variation. We test three treatments: a basic CCT treatment based on school attendance, a savings treatment that…

Objective: To compare nutrient intake and indicators of nutritional status of western Kenyan pupil participants and nonparticipants of a parent-supported school lunch program. Design: Pupils and their caregivers were interviewed to assess their 24-hour dietary intake and the socioeconomic status of the family. Pupils' weights and heights were…

A mathematics module in the undergraduate programme for first year engineers aims to enable those with low mathematical qualifications to understand and use efficiently calculus and related topics. The teaching approach is designed to develop student's fluency, understanding and responsibility through creating an inquiry community, encouraging…

This paper provides insights about the specific impact teachers' actions and attitudes can have on access to schooling. The paper reports how teachers' irregular attendance, lateness and absenteeism as well as misuse of instructional hours and indiscriminate use of corporal punishment contribute to pupils' irregular attendance and dropping out. It…

This report paints a collective portrait of the Baltimore City Schools dropouts of 2008-09 to summarize some of the commonalities that join their individual stories together. After examining the surface level demographic characteristics of these dropouts, researchers probed more deeply into their behavioral characteristics in the years preceding…

This paper describes staff perceptions of the implementation of an alternative curriculum, Skill Force, for disaffected pupils in the UK. The perceptions of Skill Force and school staff were compared based on data from questionnaires completed by 62 Skill Force and 84 school staff, and interviews with representative samples of each. While the data…

This report summarizes analyses of whether results from Austin Independent School District's students' Spring 2008 state-mandated academic assessments are related to their results on a fitness assessment.

The purpose of this study was to determine the most effective of three instructional methods for teaching mathematics to secondary students with emotional and behavioral disorders. A single-subject alternating-treatments research design was used to compare three instructional methods: direct teach, computer-assisted instruction, and a combination…

Pedagogy and assessment are critical aspects of classroom teaching at all educational levels. Although training in these areas is often a primary focus of university programs preparing pre-service teachers, it is not necessarily part of the training for university faculty. Using survey methodology, this descriptive study investigated the…

One purpose of professional conference attendance is to enhance social support. Intentionally fostering this support is an important political aim that should be developed. Although many multifactor definitions of social support exist (Cobb, 1979; Cohen & Syme, 1985; Kahn, 1979; Shaefer et al., 1981; Weiss, 1974), all distinguish between an…

Procedures successful for one school in establishing good attendance include phone calls on all unexplained absences, discipline for unexcused absences, incentives for good attendance, charting attendance patterns, and staff coordination for monitoring attendance. Increased state aid, a more positive school climate, and greater student achievement…