This protocol guides the What Works Clearinghouse's (WWC) systematic reviews of evidence relating to college and career readiness for secondary school students in grades 6-12. Reviewers conducting the systematic review should use this protocol in conjunction with version 4.1 of the WWC Standards and Procedures Handbooks and the corresponding Study…

Education researchers use surveys widely. Yet, critics question respondents' ability to provide high-quality responses. As schools increasingly use student surveys to drive local policy making, respondents' (lack of) motivation to provide quality responses may threaten the wisdom of using questionnaires for data-based decision making. To better…

In the past decade or so, there has been an increasing interest in employing a combination of archival and life history methods to understand the complexities of schooling. This book explores the history of the Beal Technical School in order to discuss the methods and problems involved in researching the story of an institution. It offers the…

Districts now have access to a wealth of new information that can help target students with appropriate supports and bring focus and coherence to college readiness efforts. However, the abundance of data has brought its own challenges. Schools and school systems are often overwhelmed with the amount of data available. The capacity of districts to…

Initially drawing from, yet then expanding on the research discussed in this volume, this article discusses specific measures that practitioners, researchers, and policymakers can take to support purpose among youth. Strategies for educators include utilizing practical purpose teaching tools, such as purpose interviews, purpose-related…

In this paper we present our experiences of conducting focus groups with young people as part of a participatory approach to research design and participant recruitment. The research is a prospective, 10-year, qualitative, longitudinal project investigating young people's daily lives, relationships, and identities, and the ways these change over…

In this paper we draw upon 14 semi-structured interviews with the participants in a teacher-researcher project on the theme of "ensuring African Caribbean attainment" with the aim of shedding light on the purposes, processes and lived experiences of teacher research in a difficult and contentious intellectual and practical domain. After…

"Approaches and Strategies in Next Generation Science Learning" examines the challenges involved in the development of modern curriculum models, teaching strategies, and assessments in science education in order to prepare future students in the 21st century economies. This comprehensive collection of research brings together science educators,…

This article outlines the planning towards a research design to learn about leadership as it is constructed, experienced and developed in schools. It is intended that the research would go beyond an individual's account to gain an insight into the relationships and social dynamic within the organization. The hypothesis is that the degree of…

This research brief examines the challenges and opportunities presented in evaluating whether an intervention achieves defined goals of increasing students' educational attainment, employment, and earnings after high school. The report concludes that evaluations should: (1) Distinguish between gross outcomes (such as how many young people attend…

There is a tendency to use case-study research methodology for research issues aiming at simply describing a complex situation, and to draw conclusions with insufficient rigour. Sound case-study research, however, follows discriminate rules which can be described in all the dimensions of a full case-study research process. This paper examines…

Purpose: The intention of this paper is to encourage debate among ethical researchers on this very important issue. Research necessary to underpin health education and health promotion is often controversial and often involves vulnerable populations such as young people and children. It is essential that the rights of these respondents are…

The National Longitudinal Study (NLS) of the High School Class of 1972 is a large-scale long-term survey effort supported by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Office of the Assistant Secretary for Educational Research and Improvement in the U.S. Department of Education. NLS is designed to provide statistics on a national sample…