This systematic review identified 10 process evaluation studies of positive youth development (PYD) programmes for disadvantaged young people, and aimed to assess the quality of reporting, methods used, and barriers and enablers to delivering programmes as intended. Four databases were searched: Web of Science, Psych INFO, Scopus, and Embase.…

University participation gaps between free school meals (FSM) and non-FSM students have remained largely stable in the UK since 2006. The efficacy of UK widening participation (WP) interventions in changing attitudes towards university and increasing participation of disadvantaged students is uncertain. Some approaches have shown to be effective…

Digital literacy training programs (DLTPs) are influential in developing digital skills to help build a more inclusive and participatory ecosystem. This study reviews 86 studies related to DLTPs for marginalised populations in developed and developing countries. It aims to understand (a) the profile of DLTPs, (b) the digital competences…

This report presents findings from exploratory, descriptive meta-analyses of effect sizes reported by the first 82 EEF evaluations that used a randomised controlled trial (RCT) or clustered RCT impact evaluation design published up to January 2019. The review used a theoretical framework derived from literature with five overarching themes to…

Policymakers, child care providers, and parents face tradeoffs in determining how much to spend on child care, including how many hours to purchase, and the features of programs that might influence quality. Given these tradeoffs, it is useful to understand what constitutes quality, the cost of care features associated with quality, the effects of…

Background: Children from disadvantaged backgrounds are more apt to experience lower availability of nutritious foods, lack opportunities to exercise, and lack access to recreational facilities, and thus, are more likely to be obese and at greater risk for developing chronic diseases. We review school health education programs' impact on physical…

The aim of this systematic review was to examine research studies which focus on effective student support practices and show evidence of credible assessment. To identify effective student support practices, and also to provide a contemporary picture of effective support practices at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, 24 studies which met the…

Assessment is a crucial component of gifted education. Not only does it facilitate the recognition of the potential and specific needs of gifted students, it also monitors the progress and growth of gifted students, and allows for the evaluation of gifted education programs. In the present review, we synthesize the literature on assessment in…

It is more than a quarter century since Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, the first major Federal legislation authorizing funds for compensatory education for the disadvantaged, came into effect. In 1981, Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act (ECIA) replaced Title I. Some Federal funding…

Title I may have fallen short of its lofty goals, but it is an effective basic skills program for underachieving students. Its successes depend on requirements that the program supplement the regular learning program, evaluate pupil progress, be coordinated with other school activities, and involve parents. (Author/JM)

This report reviews school department data and interviews with officials and others involved in the Norfolk (Virginia) school resegregation plan designed to stem White flight and increase parental involvement. The report finds that all the basic assumptions the local community and the court had about the potential benefits of undoing the city's…

The upcoming Congressional reauthorization of the Early Head Start program provides an opportunity to focus on what can be done to achieve even greater impacts for infants, toddlers, and families in Early Head Start. In this policy brief, the Zero to Three Policy Center presents its recommendations for Congressional action and discusses scientific…

A meta-analysis of the early intervention research literature revealed that early intervention has an immediate positive effect of about on-half of a standard deviation. The analysis failed to find long-term benefits and failed to relate degree of parental involvement to intervention effectiveness. (KH)

This report provides an assessment of the Central Park East (CPE) elementary school (in New York City) effort, an effort by teachers who believed that the "progressive education" that worked for the children of the wealthy and privileged in many private and suburban schools could work equally well for poor and working-class children.…

Increasing concern about the overall quality of America's schools has altered federal and state education policy priorities. This shift has resulted in a reduction of federal support, an increase in state-level initiatives, and development of new policies aimed more toward improving the education system generally than toward solving the problems…