This paper explores the standard traditional summer vacation model; this includes the accompanying food insecurity, loss of nutrition and the lost knowledge that must be re-taught at the beginning of each new academic year. It compares the number of academic days attended in various Industrialized Nations compared to the United States. Also,…

Assessing a high school's effectiveness is not straightforward. Comparing a school's standardized test scores to those of other schools is one approach to measuring effectiveness, but a major objection to this method is that students' test scores tend to be related to students' "socioeconomic" status--family household income, for…

This report provides a detailed portrait of Hispanic and White academic achievement gaps and how students' performance has changed over time at both the national and state levels. The report presents achievement gaps using reading and mathematics assessment data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) for the 4th- and 8th-grade…

Describes a project which: (1) compared cost and nutritive value of six student lunches (type A school lunch, a-la-carte school lunch, lunch at home, vended lunch, fast-food lunch, and brown bag lunch); (2) used findings to make recommendations for improving student lunches; and (3) developed graduate student assessment/research skills. (JN)

This is the 10th annual report on conditions affecting the Racine Unified School District RUSD). Analysis continues to focus on the long-term historical trends in RUSD, comparing RUSD to nine peer school districts and the State of Wisconsin. RUSD peer districts are Wisconsin's largest (Milwaukee Public Schools are not included) and their…

This is the 9th annual report on conditions affecting the Racine Unified School District RUSD). Over the past decade, the conditions affecting the district as well as the school outcomes have changed in some ways and remained stable in others. This analysis compares RUSD to nine peer school districts and the state of Wisconsin. RUSD peer…

Noting that children's average daily intake of fruits and vegetables is well below recommended minimums, this report responds to a request from the Appropriations Committee Directives, Fiscal Year 2002 to compare fruits/vegetable availability in schools with and without salad bars. The comparison was made using data from the School Nutrition…

This is the 8th annual report on conditions affecting the Racine Unified School District RUSD). Each study has confirmed that the Racine Unified School District (RUSD) faces greater challenges than its peers. Although these challenges have led Racine to spend slightly above the average amount per pupil, district performance tends to be below…