The purpose of the 7-year longitudinal study was to examine the College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP), a student services intervention, to determine its impact on migrant student achievement in the California State University (CSU) system. Participants included 336 migrant students who were enrolled as first-time, full-time freshmen in fall…

The current study implemented and evaluated an adapted version of the Within Our Reach program called FRAME. Participants were 173 low-income couples in committed relationships and caring for at least one child together. Participating couples were randomly assigned to one of the four study conditions (couples group, female group, male group, or…

The National Writing Project (NWP) has expanded its national portfolio of research projects conducted at local Writing Project sites to 16 studies that examine professional development, teacher practices, and student writing achievement. NWP sites emphasize common principles of high-quality instruction and the professional development necessary to…

Adult education programs providing classes to students preparing for high school equivalency and learning English that demonstrate characteristics of learning organizations may be better able to thrive when confronted with less-than-ideal circumstances. Many of these programs organize adult educators into learning communities as the context for…

An educational intervention's effectiveness is judged by whether it produces positive outcomes for students, with the randomized controlled trial (CRT) as a valuable tool for determining intervention effects. However, the intervention-as-implemented in an experiment frequently differs from the intervention-as-designed, making it unclear whether…

Distressed urban neighborhoods face challenges on multiple fronts, but most efforts to confront these problems work in isolation of one another. The New Communities Program (NCP) is an exception, helping selected Chicago neighborhoods develop partnerships to address challenges involving employment, education, housing, and safety in a…

This article describes the results of a research project designed to assess the efficacy of a secondary transition model, RENEW (Rehabilitation, Empowerment, Natural supports, Education and Work), on the social and emotional functioning of 20 youth at risk of dropping out of high school using the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale…

Practical research experience has been seen as an important tool to enhance learning in STEM fields and shape commitment to science careers. Indeed, this was a prominent recommendation of the Boyer Commission. Further, there is evidence this is especially important for minority students. In this paper, we examine the role of practical research…

Despite recent research suggesting that relationally aggressive behaviors occur frequently and may lead to physically aggressive actions within urban school settings, there has been little prior research to develop and evaluate relational aggression prevention efforts within the urban schools. The current article describes the development and…

Six young people from the Grampians region of Victoria who had serious mental illnesses took part in a creative arts project that taught them filmmaking skills and techniques over a five-week period. The project was evaluated using a mixed-method approach. Statistically significant improvements were found in quality of life and social…

This article recounts the experience of the Regent University Library in planning and implementing a festival of Tolstoy and Russian culture as part of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Big Read initiative. The NEA launched the Big Read in 2006 to counter the alarming decline of literary reading documented in its 2002 report Reading at…

Fostering Healthy Futures (FHF) is a randomized controlled trial of an intervention for preadolescent youth placed in foster care because of maltreatment. As part of the FHF program, graduate students spend sixteen to twenty hours per week mentoring two youths in foster care and receiving intensive training and supervision. During summer and fall…

Student-directed projects are increasingly becoming a common phenomenon in schools of social work across the United States. Students acquire a great learning experience from these projects, which sharpen their skills in leadership, innovation, and practice. Social work practitioners who go through such a process emerge having acquired knowledge…

Youth with disabilities face many obstacles when transitioning from a juvenile detention facility back to school. A school-based mentoring program provides formerly incarcerated youth with support and encouragement from a caring, responsible adult. Youth with positive role models such as a mentor are more likely to successfully transition back to…

This paper describes an action research project evaluating an elementary school counseling program in a large suburban Georgia city. Using staff surveys (which include homeroom teachers as well as support teachers and paraprofessionals), interviews, and researcher observations the program was evaluated to determine strengths and weaknesses. The…