There is scant evidence on the level of arts education available in U.S. public schools and how this has changed over time. In this paper, I present new evidence on broad trends in arts education in U.S. public schools from 1988 through 2018 using nationally representative data from the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) and the National Teachers…

This technical supplement provides details on the survey methodology and results presented in the report "Developing Effective Principals: What Kind of Learning Matters?" The full report shows that principals' access to high-quality learning opportunities varies across states and by school poverty level. To draw these conclusions, the…

This report presents school-level finance data on expenditures by function from the School-Level Finance Survey (SLFS). The SLFS is an extension of two existing collections being conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) in collaboration with the Census Bureau: the School District Finance Survey (F-33) and the state-level…

This five-year study of graduating seniors at Elon University (n = 1,858) compared student outcomes measured by the National Survey of Student Engagement across five study abroad groups: no study abroad, semester, short-term (three-week), two short-terms, and semester plus short-term. Both short-term and semester programs were positively…

There is a paucity of research on American Indian students in U.S. higher education, particularly those who commute and are citizens of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. Unfortunately, no studies have examined the engagement of undergraduate Lumbee commuter students. Kuh (2009b) defined student engagement as "the time and effort students…

Much research on access to the higher education system overlooks the importance of a base factor: place. An 'education desert' is defined as an area in which residents are separated from the higher education system by geography and structural factors. This study employs a granular approach to locate education deserts within the state of North…

The longitudinal relations between teacher-student relationship quality (TSRQ) and student achievement were examined to determine the directional associations between the quality of teacher-rated closeness and conflict with students, and measured math and reading achievement in a large, multisite sample of U.S. youth at first, third, and fifth…

Substantial teacher turnover poses a challenge to staffing public schools with effective teachers. The scope of the teacher retention challenge across school districts, however, remains poorly defined. Applying consistent data practices and analytical techniques to administrative data sets from 16 urban districts, we document substantial…

Stackable credentials--sequential postsecondary awards that allow individuals to progress on a career path--have been suggested as a way to enhance the labor market prospects of middle-skill workers. Yet, thus far, little evidence has been provided on the economic value of these credentials. Here, we report a series of estimates on the association…

The Common Planning Time Project of the Middle Level Education Research Special Interest Group (MLER SIG) of the American Educational Research Association provided an avenue through which researchers from throughout the United States could investigate numerous aspects of common planning time in schools. Although several studies have investigated…

When implementing innovative teaching techniques, instructors often seek to gauge the success of their methods. Proposing one approach to assessing classroom innovation, this study examines the ability of students' ratings of engagement and instructional practices to predict their learning in a cooperative (team-based) framework. After identifying…

This 5-year study of graduating seniors at Elon University (n = 2,058) evaluates the impacts of experiential learning depth (amount of time commitment) and breadth (number of different types of experiences) on student outcomes. Data on study abroad, undergraduate research, internships, service, and leadership experiences were pulled from…

In order to enhance Extension evaluation efforts it is important to understand current practices. The study reported here researched the evaluation behaviors of county-based Extension professionals. Extension professionals from eight states (n = 1,173) responded to a survey regarding their evaluation data collection, analysis, and reporting…

Landing a tenure-track position is no easy task. Achieving tenure is even more difficult. Under what policies and practices do faculty find greater clarity about tenure and experience higher levels of job satisfaction? And what makes an institution a great place to work? In 2005-2006, the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education…

This report presents the findings from a rigorous national survey of charter school authorizers conducted in 2011 by the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA). This is the fourth time NACSA has conducted this type of national survey. As in years past, the vast majority of authorizers (90 percent) are school districts and they…