Scratch the surface of a successful school and you will find a web of interactions that is the root of its success. Who is it that envisions, inspires, cajoles, and rallies all the various players in and around a school toward any improvement goal? Often it's a superintendent, a principal, a professor, a special teacher, or a parent. In a word,…

This publication is the 12th edition of the "Mini-Digest of Education Statistics," a pocket-sized compilation of statistical information covering the broad field of American education from kindergarten through graduate school. The statistical highlights are excerpts from the "Digest of Education of Statistics, 2006" [ED497523]…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) "Chance Favors the Prepared Mind": Report Finds that Students in the Highest-Achieving States Score As Well…

In this theoretical dissertation my aim is to research the academic literature in the field of second language acquisition (SLA), compare it to the life experiences of past and/or present students, colleagues, children and myself to reflect and summarize my learning in the form of a conceptual framework that I have named, "Framework for…

California counties receiving funds from Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act (JJCPA) programs are required to report six outcome measures to the California State Legislature on an annual basis to measure the success of the program. These outcome measures are (1) successful completion of probation, (2) arrests, (3) probation violations, (4)…

Section 1008.30 (formerly 240.117), Florida Statutes, requires the State Board of Education to develop and implement a common placement testing program to assess the basic computation and communication skills of students who intend to enter a degree program at any public community college or state university. Every year the State provides reports…

Although education pays off handsomely in the United States, children from low-income families attain less education than children from more advantaged families. In this article, Cecilia Elena Rouse and Lisa Barrow investigate why family background is so strongly linked to education. The authors show that family socioeconomic status affects such…

Concerns for social justice have called Catholics and others to be compassionate and supportive to children with disabilities by establishing schools and other learning opportunities to nurture this population. Special education as a field has developed over the past 40 years. This study examines the incidence, context, and nature of special…

As a large body of high-quality research has emerged in the past few years showing that school choice benefits the students who use it, much of the debate has shifted to the "public" or "social" effects of school choice. This study examines how school choice in Missouri would raise high school graduation rates, and measures the…

This study documents the public costs of high school dropouts in Indiana, and examines how school choice would provide large public benefits by increasing the graduation rate in Indiana public schools. It calculates the annual cost of high school dropouts in Indiana due to lower state income tax payments, increased reliance on Medicaid, and…

The Common Core of Data (CCD) is a universe collection of public elementary and secondary education data that is administered by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The CCD is a system of five surveys, three nonfiscal and two fiscal. The nonfiscal surveys are the: (1) Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey; (2) Local…

By examining trends in college affordability, this article explores the extent to which the public perception that college is not affordable is justified. First, the article describes trends in national indicators that contribute to ability to pay, including income growth, health care costs, debt burden, and personal savings rates. Trends in…

This study compares the well-being of African American, Latina, and White grandmothers raising or helping to raise grandchildren in custodial and coparenting families. Grandmother caregivers (N = 1,051) were recruited through schools and media for 1-hr interviews. Latina grandmothers had higher life satisfaction than African American or White…

Background: This study examines the contribution of the marital relationship to the well-being of both mothers and fathers of children with developmental disabilities. Parent well-being is conceptualized in terms of mental health, parenting stress and parenting efficacy. Methods: These analyses are based on data from 67 families participating in…

American attitudes toward the need for teaching twenty-first century skills appear as strong as the socioeconomic research being done that shows how critical these skills are for students' future access to the middle class and the country's economic competitiveness. In 2003, the AOL Time Warner Foundation (now the Time Warner Foundation) set out…