In "Measuring to Improve," Paul G. LeMahieu, Paul Cobb, and contributors introduce educational practitioners, administrators, and policymakers to the foundational elements of practical measurement to support continuous improvement efforts in K-12 schools. They begin by defining practical measurement as data collection and analysis that…

A primary rationale for public provision of K-12 education and state financing of school spending is that education fosters civic engagement and the development of social capital. However, limited evidence exists on whether and how school spending affects civic engagement. Virtually all studies focus on the impact of educational attainment (as…

Education is often considered a particularly polarised area of policy -- with much unnecessary chopping and changing as governments and ministers come and go, wanting to make their mark. Yet, while there has been a lot of surface area turbulence the broad trends in policy have been remarkably stable for 35 years. The English school system has…

Black males comprise approximately 3% to 5% of the overall K-12 teaching workforce. The science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields are overrepresented in this shortage. This research project aimed to shed light on the experiences of Black male STEM educators to better understand what garnered their interests in STEM, and what…

A longstanding critique of homeschooling is that it isolates children from mainstream society, depriving them of social experiences needed to thrive as adults. Although a small number of empirical studies challenge this criticism, this research tends to be derived from self-reports of homeschooling parents about their children. In this study,…

School assignment policies are a key lever to increase access to high performing schools and to promote racial and socioeconomic integration. For over 50 years, the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity (METCO) has bussed students of color from Boston, Massachusetts to relatively wealthier and predominantly White suburbs. Using a…

In addition to the cross-cutting need to improve adequacy and equity in education investments, this policy agenda presents the current statewide priorities of The Education Trust-West, who continues to advocate for investments, policies, and practices through research, reports, events, and legislative efforts while engaging with educators,…

In this mixed-methods approach with a convergent questionnaire variant design study, the role of gender on access, participation, and successful higher education outcomes among women and men in Ethiopia was examined. The study sought to answer the central research question of whether gender plays any role in the higher education access,…

As reported in the first State of the American Student report in 2022 (ED623504), pandemic school closures led to unprecedented academic setbacks for American students. They exacerbated preexisting inequalities and accelerated the youth mental health crisis. The second edition provides basic data on the overall system, but focuses especially on…

This qualitative narrative research study aimed to address the problem of students' low enrollment numbers in a historically low number of college-bound areas in South Texas. The theoretical frameworks utilized to explore this topic were self-efficacy and social capital. The proposed theories explored students' level of self-efficacy, social…

Debates about grade retention weigh the academic benefits of remediation against its social and psychological costs. Louisiana adopted a retention policy aimed at capturing these benefits while mitigating the harm. It used test score thresholds to distinguish between retention in grade 8, promotion to grade 9, and a grade "8.5" where…

The Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP) offers publicly funded vouchers to moderate- and low-income students in low-performing public schools to enroll in participating private schools. Established in 2008 as a pilot program in New Orleans, the LSP expanded statewide in 2012. Drawing upon the random lotteries that placed students in LSP schools,…

Although bilingual education has been offered in some schools of Sri Lanka since 2001, primary and secondary school education has been conducted mainly in the first language (L1), that is, Sinhala/Tamil. As a result, most students sit for the General Certificate of Education -- Advanced Level (GCE (A/L) examination, which determines university…

This study used a qualitative design featuring narrative inquiry to explore the systemic challenges in child welfare and education systems that affect the K-12 and college educational outcomes of former foster youth. The study took on an asset-based perspective to elevate the voices of foster youth. The methods involved conducting semi-structured…

Black males are often underrepresented in postsecondary education settings and frequently encounter many barriers in getting to college. Our aim in this qualitative investigation was to understand the precollege and college experiences of Black males who successfully enrolled in a postsecondary institution. Through a focus group interview, seven…