America's reckoning with racial injustice and the pursuit of equity have led some public school systems to reduce or terminate (or at least question) special programs for high achievers, such as "gifted" education, honors courses, and selective high schools. Historically, such programs have served disproportionately few Black, Hispanic,…

Background/purpose: This study aims to reveal in detail the extent to which the variables in The Primary and Secondary Education Institutions Scholarship Examination (PSEISE) predict the success of students on the scholarship exam with the help of artificial neural networks (ANN). In addition, in light of the findings obtained as a result of the…

This research study was conducted to illuminate teacher attitudes toward professional development in a large urban school district and to discern if differences existed in teachers' perceptions of professional development are dependent upon employment in a high-achieving school or low-achieving school. This study also sought to determine whether…

There is growing evidence that investment in school facilities, and new school construction in particular, can improve K-12 student outcomes, particularly for low-income students. Funding for school infrastructure, however, is inequitably distributed. Moreover, given a lack of national data on school facilities, researchers have focused on…

The purpose of the current qualitative study was to explore the characteristics of high-performing Title 1 schools that narrow the poverty-related achievement gap employing an extreme sampling case design. The study examined four case schools that were selected based on 2019 CAASPP data as published on the California School Dashboard with the…

"Racial Opportunity Cost" turns critical attention to the specific challenges faced by high-achieving students of color and gives educators a framework for recognizing and addressing these issues. Terah Venzant Chambers roots her discussion in the concept of racial opportunity cost, using a term borrowed from economics to refer to the…

This brief report explores the associations of interpersonal strengths with subjective well-being and psychological flourishing among high-ability adolescents (M = 13.08, SD = 2.17) in Hong Kong during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. It also examines the indirect effects of strengths on well-being outcomes via satisfaction of basic psychological…

School value-added models are widely applied to study, monitor, and hold schools to account for school differences in student learning. The traditional model is a mixed-effects linear regression of student current achievement on student prior achievement, background characteristics, and a school random intercept effect. The latter is referred to…

This report provides a first look at how Illinois school districts' uses of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds were related to their test score outcomes in the years following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using data on districts' ESSER expenditures as of November 2023, the authors analyze test score trends across…

Breadth and depth of curriculum are important for success in science teaching and learning. Curriculum theorists recommend less breadth and more depth than overloaded, superficial science curricula. This study investigates breadth and depth in the official biology syllabi in the seventh to eighth or ninth years in four diverse jurisdictions,…

Background: Recent research on boredom suggests that it can emerge in situations characterized by over- and under-challenge. In learning contexts, this implies that high boredom may be experienced both by low- and high-achieving students. Aims: This research aimed to explore the existence and prevalence of boredom due to being over- and…

Creating and sustaining an organizational culture that contributes to high academic achievement is frequently a problem in schools. This basic qualitative study explored measures implemented in thriving campus cultures and effective leadership on those campuses by interviewing principals and teachers in Blue Ribbon Schools. The study focused on…

After 22 years of public education experience serving students with disabilities and those learning English as a second language while supporting new teachers through the mentorship of veteran instructional staff, the status of U.S. schools continues to decline. The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine the leadership styles and…

This quantitative study aimed to examine the relationships between third grade reading instructional strategies in high-performing Title-One schools compared to low-performing Title-One schools in four school districts in South Carolina. The study was framed through the lens of Marzano's Theoretical Framework which outlined specific instructional…

America's urban communities have continued to face many challenges, especially the challenge of education, for several decades. Although factors such as racial injustice and community-driven problems have been used to explain the educational disparities in predominantly Black urban communities, many Black students, particularly males, have been…