A complex web of factors can influence whether students participate in computer science (CS) during high school. In order to increase participation in CS for all students, there is a need to better understand who is currently participating and what factors might be hindering participation. This study utilized a large-scale, student-level dataset…

In 2015, the Texas legislature passed House Bill 18 to bolster the college and career advising available to students in middle and high schools across the state. The Bill calls for multi-agency efforts to help counselors and other school personnel prepare students for postsecondary enrollment and entry into the workforce. Housed at the University…

Over the past decade, research on dropout prevention has become focused on using evidence-based practice, and data-driven decisions, to mitigate students' dropping out of high school and instead, support and prepare students for career and college. Early warning systems or on-track indicators, in which readily available student-level data are used…

Educators nationwide confront a troubling phenomenon: Increasingly, students leave high school unready for college, as evidenced by high rates of placement into remedial courses and low rates of college completion. Many students also lack either the attitudes or skills essential to succeed in a postsecondary setting, or knowledge of how to apply…

Unsupported fears of youth violence in schools has led to an expansion of school-based policing and zero tolerance discipline. The historical reality is that America's public schools are very safe, even when located in high crime neighborhoods. Yet, school discipline is becoming increasingly punitive, moving from the schoolhouse to the courthouse.…

This study used hierarchical linear modeling to predict first grade students' peer acceptance, classroom engagement, and sense of school belonging from measures of normative classroom teacher-student support and individual teacher-student support. Participants were 509 (54.4% male) ethnically diverse, first grade children attending one of three…

Participants were 360 (52.2% male) ethnically diverse and academically at-risk first-grade children attending one of three school districts in southeast and central Texas. Using latent variable structural equation modeling, we tested a theoretical model positing that the quality of the teacher-student relationship in first grade predicts…