The National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs, administered by the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), are key components of the nation's food security safety net, providing free or low-cost meals to millions of schoolchildren each day. To qualify their children each year for free or…

Over the past two decades, community organizing has emerged as an effective force for school improvement. In the context of shrinking education funding, stubborn opportunity and achievement gaps between low-income and wealthy children and between children of color and White children, and polarizing debate on school reform, community organizing…

On August 8-12, 2010 the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), convened the Colloquy on Minority Males in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), following the release of several reports highlighting the educational challenges facing minority males. The NSF recognized the…

Policymakers and educators are increasingly expressing concerns that the U.S. is lagging behind other countries in educating the next generation of mathematicians and scientists. In response, the federal government, private foundations, and many "institutions of higher education" (IHEs) are encouraging STEM (science, technology,…

Many low-income families struggle with stable housing and frequently have to move due to foreclosures, rent increases, or other financial setbacks. Children in these families can experience lasting negative effects, especially those who are young and still developing basic learning and social skills. A joint NRC-IOM committee held a workshop in…

The purpose of this Guide is to provide education officials, program providers, and others seeking to sponsor a rigorous program evaluation with practical advice on finding a capable evaluator. More specifically, this Guide offers practical advice on finding an evaluator to conduct a rigorous evaluation to measure the effect of an educational…

The purpose of this Guide is to advise researchers, policymakers, and others on when it is possible to conduct a high-quality randomized controlled trial in education at reduced cost. Well-designed randomized controlled trials are recognized as the gold standard for evaluating the effectiveness of an intervention (i.e., program or practice) in…

This study is the sixth in a series of studies conducted by the American Association of School Administrators on the impact of the economic downturn on schools. AASA launched the series in fall 2008 in response to state budget shortfalls, federal buy-outs and interventions, and a series of additional events characterizing a slowing, stagnant…

Reviews papers in this Quarterly by Herriot and Dawson. (JM)

The histories of five multisite, qualitative policy studies were examined to see how much variation in formalization reflected the technical requirements of the research problem, the demands of the federal client, and the preferences of the project team and its professional network. (Author/PN)

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is, quite possibly, the most comprehensive and systemic education reform act passed by Congress in the last 40 years. Given only 17 states ever fully complied with NCLB's predecessor, the 1994 Elementary and Secondary Education Act, it is only proper that legislators, policymakers, and researchers are now asking…

Volume I of the First Annual Report of the National Day Care Study (NDCS) funded by the Office of Child Development presents an overview of the NDCS study, the background of federal involvement in day care, the day care policy issues being addressed, an overview of the study design and phases, uses and limits of study findings, and the results of…

A comparison of multisite educational research projects involving qualitative research methods is reported. In phase 1 of the project, telephone interviews with key staff members of 25 projects determined ways in which each project handled important qualitative design and implementation choices. Phase 2 consisted of a more intensive study of 5…

Volume II of the First Annual Report of the National Day Care Study (NDCS) funded by the Office of Child Development presents the research design for Phase II of the study and includes a detailed technical discussion of the study's analytical and methodological issues. The NDCS, being conducted over a period of three years, is designed to answer…

This second annual report of the National Day Care Study (NDCS), a 3-year study funded by the Office of Child Development, describes the work of the NDCS during Phase II of the study (Sept. 1975 through Sept. 1976). The study was designed to answer policy questions concerning the effect of child ratio and other regulatable center characteristics…