The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Opportunity." Contents include: (1) Students Deserve to Read Diverse Books --…

When Black and Latino students are given advanced opportunities, they thrive alongside their peers. However, only a fraction of eligible students is enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) Biology, Chemistry, and Physics courses, which means that most Black and Latino students are being denied vital learning opportunities that can set them up for…

This White Paper provides a selection of some general principles of assessment or overarching ideas that may guide educators in selecting, developing, and implementing assessments of students' learning at all instructional levels or educational settings in which they are used. These principles represent a framework for understanding the nature of…

Engaging classes in every subject. Enriching encounters with the arts. Fun physical activities and healthy nutrition. Guided explorations of possible careers. Every young person deserves all of these experiences. At the moment, unfortunately, not all of the nation's children and youth do. This guide is intended to accompany the video…

Each edition of the IDRA Newsletter strives to provide many different perspectives on the issues in education topics discussed and to define its significance in the state and national dialogue. This issue focuses on Student Engagement and includes: (1) Teaching for Cognitive Engagement Materializing the Promise of Sheltered Instruction (Adela…

Teaching parents, colleagues, and community members what happens in music programs is one way to encourage them to more actively support music education. Impressions of music education are often formed in a performance-based context. What people see at a performance--the band playing expressively in tune and in time, the lovely blending and…

The increase in large-scale standardized testing in the nation's schools is one major result of demands for accountability. Such testing also impacts many aspects of school and family life and culture. For some, certain unintended impacts may be like side effects of medicines that need to be tolerated; for others they raise larger questions about…

Rather than promote access, college admissions and financial aid processes often create a series of barriers that the poorest student must overcome to get to college. The Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis (CHEPA) of the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California directed a three-year research initiative,…

This report gives practical advice to unemployed people wishing to attend further education establishments while retaining their right to unemployment and/or supplementary benefits. It also provides advice and examples of good practice to colleges to encourage claimant study, explores ways to develop successful programs for unemployed people, and…

There is very little research that directly specifies what programs can do to facilitate positive adolescent development, or how to tailor these programs to the individual needs of adolescents. However, there is a broad base of knowledge about how development occurs that can be drawn upon. Research demonstrates that certain features of the…

This directory lists and describes programs for minority group members in the areas of career information, employment skills development, and financial aid for higher education. It is divided into three sections. Section 1 covers general employment and educational assistance programs, including national, regional, and area scholarship programs,…

Vocational-technical education (VTE) today encompasses a diverse array of programs to equip students with work and life skills. A widening skills gap in the nation's work force, coupled with the fact that only about 20% of the nation's current jobs require a four-year college degree, has made VTE more important than ever before. Research has…

Factors that influence and predict academic success of ESL students were studied to assist the Ministry with decisions related to curriculum development, resource allocation, and support provision. The comprehensive nature of this study is unique in that it presents the state of affairs of K-12 ESL education in Alberta. Best practice information…

The panel reviewed five efforts to integrate education into the workplace through cooperation between private industry and government, use of university research resources to save jobs while providing students with hands-on training, and community and school joint preparation of teenagers for social and economic participation. (NEC)

This report provides data on inequality in school funding systems and the status of the legal challenges taking place. Disagreements about what is needed to resolve inequality are resolved through the political and legal process, professional judgment, and facts and objective data. This report provides facts and objective data. The first part…