Public policies targeting individuals based on need often impose disproportionate burden on communities that lack the resources to implement these policies effectively. In an elementary school setting, I examine whether community-level interventions focusing on similar needs and providing resources to build capacity in these communities could…

For many years, the conventional wisdom in the field was that grade retention was a bad idea. A 1997 opinion piece in "Education Week" titled "Grade retention doesn't work" reflected the prevailing sentiment in the education community and the available research evidence at that time: retained students performed worse than their…

Credit recovery programs are a form of alternative learning in which students have an additional opportunity to gain credit, or pass, a previously failed class by retaking the course, either in full or with key standards. Although little scientific research exists regarding the effectiveness of credit recovery, in addition to the short- and…

Overall, Twilight credit recovery program student outcomes were positive during 2020-2021. The middle school students who participated in Twilight had a 60% success rate and high school students who participated in Twilight had a 77% success rate. In addition, 81% of the 12th graders who participated in Twilight graduated from high school. Lastly,…

This report includes findings regarding demographic characteristics and academic outcomes of Twilight students; highlights emerging topics from the student, teacher, and staff surveys; and provides recommendations for future program implementation.

As pre-K programming increasingly garners more political attention and funding in the states, policymakers are seeking the most up-to-date and rigorous research to support decision-making and creation or expansion of these programs. High-quality pre-K has bipartisan support in part because of the vast amount of existing research detailing positive…

Using technology to deliver instruction in schools has become increasingly popular. Students are required to use online programs, textbooks and apps as part of their classwork and homework. BYOD (bring your own device) school policies have filled classrooms and hallways with students carrying smart phones, laptops and iPads. The increased reliance…

"The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" (NCLB) made schools accountable for student performance through standardized testing. Some claim high-stakes testing is an inexpensive vehicle through which to raise educational standards, however, these studies typically count only the administrative costs of test development, test delivery, and…

It has been 20 years since the Rainbow Reading programme was developed and trialled by its New Zealand creator, Meryl-Lynn Pluck. Rainbow Reading is an audio-facilitated reading programme, and is based on the method of assisted repeated reading. The programme is designed to provide older students reading below their chronological age with the…

Data in this report suggest that AISD's full-day prekindergarten (pre-K) program helped reduce the number of students who were retained a grade level or were placed in special education services. The cost per student for full-day pre-K was less than the costs associated with grade-level retention or special education services.

Existing research provides little insight into the relative merits of universal programs and those targeted to specific groups. While there have been several recent studies of the short-term effects of universal preschool programs in the U.S., there is no evidence to date on long-term consequences. Some studies suggest that Head Start has lasting…

This is the fourth-year report in a five-year evaluation of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP). This report features analyses of student achievement growth three years after the authors carefully assembled longitudinal study panels of MPCP and Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) students in 2006-07. The general purposes of the evaluation are…

This report by the Southern Education Foundation (SEF) finds that high-quality pre-kindergarten (Pre-K) is the "first, essential step towards building the educated workforce that will enable a better economic future for Mississippi." The report calls on Mississippi leaders to establish a blue-ribbon, bipartisan commission to develop a…

NovaNET is a technology-based teacher-facilitated educational approach used at schools to support students at risk of not meeting graduation requirements to accrue credits in a variety of subjects. NovaNET contributes to the WCPSS goal of closing achievement gaps and creating opportunities for all students to graduate on time. In 2008-09, 38…

The North Carolina Virtual Public School completed its first session during the summer of 2007. Evaluation results revealed differences between accelerated and credit recovery students, including a significantly higher likelihood for accelerated students to rate their courses as high quality, to express interest in taking another online course,…