This brief summarizes findings on strategies for helping hard-to-employ populations--especially cash welfare assistance clients and disadvantaged parents with child support obligations--become employed. It begins with an overview of the unique needs of these two groups, followed by a review of strategies that have successfully boosted their…

Much of the heavy lifting on widening participation in higher education to date has been undertaken by newer and less selective higher education institutions. The access challenge therefore remains greater at more selective institutions. They could learn from the best practice that exists in less selective universities. It will take nearly a…

The purpose of this policy brief is to provide an overview of the characteristics of newcomer students in the state of Oregon, as well as their schooling contexts. Findings were based on tabulation of statewide, student-level data from the 2015-16 school year. Newcomer students were defined as students born outside the U.S. and enrolled in U.S.…

In the United States, many school districts are already aware of the "digital divide"--a phenomenon that manifests as an inequity in technology use and availability, limiting the opportunities available to students who are often already at a disadvantage due to socioeconomic factors. Some districts have taken steps to reduce the digital…

Walter Sisulu University (WSU) in South Africa, like other universities worldwide, is faced with the challenges associated with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The challenge has changed our day-to-day lives, including the way we interact and conduct business. In the midst of this, WSU has had to change the way learning and teaching occurs.…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a significant difference exists in academic achievement between all students and economically disadvantaged students when compared by socioeconomic levels in the North Carolina middle grades learner (as measured by reading and mathematics standardized tests). It also sought to determine whether…

Purpose: The aim of this research was to analyze change of STEM career choices of female students having different cognitive styles who participated in out-of-school STEM activities. Socio-economically disadvantaged, high academic achiever 20 female students participated in the research. Participants received integrated STEM training for six days…

Written argumentation is a complex skill to master. It can be assumed that students can transfer oral argumentation skills into a written format. Still, students from disadvantaged backgrounds for whom this task is highly novel require greater scaffolding to formulate persuasive arguments in writing. Therefore, there is a need for developing sound…

As the global community strives for the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, particularly, the first goal of 'ending poverty in all its forms everywhere', university students' learning experiences and understanding about global poverty remain comparatively unexplored. This in-depth qualitative study examines how university students in the USA…

Purpose: The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic led education institutions to move all face-to-face (F2F) courses online. The situation is unique in that teachers and students can make a direct comparison of their courses before (F2F) and after COVID-19 (online). This study aims to analyze teachers' viewpoints for this unprecedented change.…

Miguel A. Cardona, the former commissioner of education in Connecticut, became the U.S. Secretary of Education on March 2, 2021, taking office in the midst of an historic pandemic that had profoundly reshaped the nation's schools. In his initial months on the job, Cardona- also a one-time public school teacher and principal--has focused closely on…

Recent studies, supported by the European project "Europe Engage -- Developing a Culture of Civic Engagement through Service-Learning within Higher Education in Europe," suggest that service-learning (SL) is an effective approach to develop personal and social learning linked to real contexts. This particular case study analyses the…

Kenyan public universities primarily provide classroom-based courses. However, socioeconomic realities prevent many rural learners from attending classes regularly. Interestingly, because of the willingness of Kenyans to further their education, informal education is picking up fast. Individuals are forming informal learning circles and have…

We explored children's physical activity level and psychosocial outcomes in a service-learning program. The program, taught by preservice physical educators, engages children in fun activities within a mastery motivational climate (MMC). Forty-two children in grades K-4 wore accelerometers during two 90-min sessions, resulting in 84 data points.…

This paper explores the incidence of children's social, emotional and behavioural difficulties within areas of multiple deprivation in one Local Authority in Wales and the potential effects of targeted training interventions on the quality of adult-child interactions. The quality of adult-child interaction was measured pre and post-test using the…