Alternative poverty measures have been proposed in response to the emerging insufficiencies of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) eligibility data. The analysis presented here involves seven poverty measures. Using outcome measures as a yardstick, we can assess how poverty measures explain these outcomes and note variations between…

It has only recently become possible to assess librarian staffing at school level, due to the long interval between the two most recent datasets from NCES's periodic sample survey of schools. In 2023, the National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS) released long-awaited 2020-21 school-level data--the first from that survey since 2015-16. These…

Rurality in education research is a function of the size of the school, the distance of a school in relation to urban areas, and factors within each school that may differentiate the school community based on geography. Distance matters. This study finds variation between rural communities at different distances from an urban center and…

This study investigated whether transitory and persistent poverty spells were associated with children's learning (literacy and numeracy scores) and executive function outcomes in Ghana. Children resided in the Greater Accra region (N = 2,154; 49% female; M[subscript age] = 5.2 years at wave-1) and were followed at four-time points over three…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide concrete examples of what leadership behaviors and strategies look like in high-poverty urban schools in Chicago that are successful at improving student outcomes. We compared the strategies used by principals who were rated by their teachers on annual surveys as being strong instructional leaders…

Center-based early care and education (ECE) is important for promoting positive early development and supporting families by providing child care so parents can work. However, the center-based supply varies substantially in terms of funding sources, indicators of quality, and services offered; and many families experience a lack of equitable…

The misrepresentation of certain student groups in special education is a multifaceted issue reflecting broader educational inequities. This article explores the complex dynamics of disproportionality, focusing on differences by race group and disability category in identification and placement for special education services. It examines the…

This chapter offers an integrated review and discussion of the major advances in theory and practice in the area of literacy, with particular focus on the work since 2014 onward. For the purposes of this review, it approaches Literacy as the ability to read and write. For reading, the chapter highlights theoretical advances that expand the view of…

Race-based bullying (RBB) victimization is a significant concern among youth and can translate into a range of adjustment problems. As such, additional research is needed on possible protective factors that may buffer these effects among RBB victims. One potential factor is school equity, as it may buffer race-based bullying victims from…

Objective: Low-income parents experience higher rates of depression due to their exposure to poverty-related stress. This study tested the Adaptation to Poverty Related Stress (APRS) model's proposed relationships between poverty-related stress, depression, and the protective roles of ethnic identity affirmation (EI), social support, and…

As part of the federally-funded grant project "SLIDE: The School Librarian Investigation--Decline or Evolution?" this study analyzed the status of school librarian employment for almost 13,000 U.S public school districts from 2018-19 and 2020-21. The purpose of the study was to learn how the COVID-19 pandemic, which radically disrupted…

High school GPAs (HSGPAs) are often perceived to represent inconsistent levels of readiness for college across high schools, while test scores (e.g., ACT scores) are seen as comparable. This study tests those assumptions, examining variation across high schools of both HSGPAs and ACT scores as measures of academic readiness for college. We find…

Introduction: This article investigates an early STEM family engagement program offered during the pre-kindergarten (pre-k) year. Pre-k is an important juncture for community organizations to support children's STEM engagement and parental involvement in informal STEM learning. We evaluated a program called Teaching Together STEM, which offers a…

Background: Given its ability to exacerbate health inequities through its disproportionate impact on low-income communities, the need exists to better understand factors that influence substance use among adolescents. Moreover, given its multi-etiological nature, preventing adolescent substance use requires addressing intrapersonal, interpersonal,…

As students return to in-person instruction in the 2021-2022 school year, local education agencies (LEAs) must develop resource allocation strategies to support schools in need. Federal programs have provided resources to support restart and recovery. However, there is little consensus on how LEAs can target resources to support those schools most…