Noncognitive constructs such as self-efficacy, social awareness, and academic engagement are widely acknowledged as critical components of human capital, but systematic data collection on such skills in school systems is complicated by conceptual ambiguities, measurement challenges and resource constraints. This study addresses this issue by…

Targeted school funding is a potentially valuable policy lever to increase educational equality by race, ethnicity, and income, but it remains unclear how to target funds most effectively. We use a regression discontinuity approach to compare districts that narrowly passed or failed a school funding election. We use close tax elections in 9 states…

Eminent historian and educator Larry Cuban provides a thorough examination of, and challenge to, past and present definitions of what constitutes educational success in the US. Cuban argues that in the history of American education, standards of achievement and inadequacy--as well as the reform efforts issuing from them--have been neither stable…

When students make significant progress toward a transfer goal, what impacts their likelihood for making it to university? Which student groups are more likely to achieve transfer success and which ones may need strategic support to make it across the finish line? The RP Group is exploring these questions as part of the Through the Gate transfer…

This technical report begins with an overview of the data and sample used in this component of research. This overview is followed by descriptive statistics of the independent and dependent variables used in the analysis. It provides a quick description of the statistical model before offering a detailed explanation of the study's results. [For…

This article describes ways in which educators can use Harter's perceived competence motivation theory, the achievement goal theory, and self-determination theory to develop students' intrinsic motivation to maintain physical fitness, as demonstrated by the Sound Body Sound Mind curriculum and proven effective by the 2013 University of…

Schools are often criticized for their role in creating the dropout problem. This article illustrates that with the right resources and approach, educational programs could become sites of transformation rather than reproducers of social inequality. Narrative and thematic analysis of in-depth interviews with graduates of a nationwide program that…

This grounded theory study utilized art therapy techniques to explore the experiences of 8 Latino families that had immigrated to the United States. Focus group facilitators invited the parents and adolescent children in the families to share their acculturation experiences verbally and in family drawings. Emergent themes from each of three focus…

The belief that a trait can be cultivated with effort, known as an "incremental theory or growth mindset," promotes behavior that leads to higher levels of achievement, such as the enthusiastic embrace of challenges and resilience to obstacles. Roughly 40% of the general student population in the United States, however, conceptualizes…

The purpose of this study was to investigate how mastery-oriented inquiry-based education influences the help-seeking attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors of middle-school students after participating in a 5-week intervention program. Four eighth-grade science classes consisting of 123 students in one middle-school in the San Francisco Bay…

Public school music education in the USA remains wedded to large ensemble performance. Instruction tends to be teacher directed, relies on styles from the Western canon and exhibits little concern for musical interests of students. The idea that a fundamental purpose of education is the creation of a just society is difficult for many music…

This report presents trial school-district-level results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) mathematics 2003, 2005, and 2007 assessments at grades 4 and 8 for 10 urban public-school districts: Atlanta City School District; Austin Independent School District (ISD); Boston School District; Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools; City…

This article relies on year-long ethnographic data to examine how the intersection of peer status, gender, and race influenced the role stances children took in one urban fifth grade classroom while participating in three different pedagogies: peer tutoring, cooperative peer editing, and collaborative writing. Informed by the sociocultural…

IN THREE SUCCESSIVE SEMESTERS (SPRING 1965, FALL 1965, AND SPRING 1966) MERRITT COLLEGE ENTERING FRESHMEN WHOSE LOW TEST SCORES INDICATED PROBABLE LACK OF SUCCESS IN COLLEGE WORK WERE OFFERED BLOCK PROGRAMS OF CLASSES DESIGNED TO HELP THEM GAIN INSIGHT AND PERSPECTIVE REGARDING THEIR SELF IMAGE, THEIR VALUES, AND THEIR INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS.…

EDUCATIONAL SUBJECT-MATTER PREFERENCES, INTERESTS, AND MOTIVATIONS OF STUDENTS WERE INVESTIGATED AS THEY RELATE TO INDIVIDUAL ACADEMIC SUCCESS. AN INTENSIVE STUDY WAS FIRST MADE OF THE ATTITUDES AND REASONING ACTIVITIES OF INDIVIDUALS AT VARYING LEVELS WITHIN THE BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA, AREA, USING--(1) WRITTEN AND ORAL PROTOCOLS, (2) OBSERVATIONS,…