Many educational systems have struggled with the question about how best to give out financial aid. In particular, if students do not know the amount of financial aid that they can receive before they make a decision about where to go to college and what major to study, it may distort their decision. This study utilizes an experiment (implemented…

Inequality of access to educational resources by different social classes has been widely documented, and schools have instituted parent programs to ameliorate this situation. However, lacking are theoretically based studies that explain how and why a program may be effective in bringing about change. The authors studied a 12-week parent…

Described is a 4-year model of a Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Program (GEAR UP) offered to 294 academically and economically disadvantaged students and their parents during in- and out-of-school time activities through partnerships forged with school personnel and community-based agencies. In an urban high school where…

Over the last decade, New York City (NYC) has been the site of a systemwide high school reform effort that is unprecedented in its scope and pace. Since 2002, the school district has closed more than 20 failing high schools, opened more than 200 new secondary schools, and implemented a centralized high school admission process in which…

Computers are now a ubiquitous part of US elementary school education. With policy reports suggesting that inequities in information and communication technology (ICT) access across US schools are a thing of the past, investigating how such resources and their use may nonetheless continue to vary becomes all that much more important. Through a…

This study examined the effectiveness of a pilot program utilizing practice standardized test questions for 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders in an economically disadvantaged school and evaluated the impact of the pilot program on pre- and post-test practice tests in language arts literacy and on the 2009 New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge…

This executive summary presents the broadest look yet at a growing trend in America's cities: the emergence of city-led efforts to build comprehensive afterschool and out-of-school time (OST) systems that meet the needs of children and youth in their communities. Mayors and other municipal officials who have demonstrated leadership in this area…

Parenting programmes are effective interventions for preventing and treating conduct problems in young children. Up to 20% of children in disadvantaged areas have conduct disorder. Recent government initiatives such as targeting early years services to designated disadvantaged Flying Start areas in Wales have resulted in increased nursery-care…

The collision of the childhood obesity epidemic with pressure to achieve high academic standards is of serious concern in the United States. Growing numbers of low-income, minority children face double jeopardy as alarming obesity rates further widen existing achievement gaps. Health and education disparities persist when children enter…

Data published on the official website of the NYC DOE indicated that slightly less than half (42%) of NYC students in grades three through eight are not proficient in ELA, and one quarter of them (25%) are not proficient in Math. School reform based on Hirsch's Cultural Literacy provided an additional dimension to exploring school reform and…

This study analyzed a state department of education's ability to have actual influence over the improvement of science achievement and proficiency by having direct relationships with science teachers in Georgia's lowest performing schools. The study employed a mixed ANOVA analysis of the mean scale scores and proficiency rates of the science…

The researcher conducted a nonexperimental study to investigate and analyze the influence of reduced class sizes, intensity (all day and every day), duration (five years), and heterogeneity (random class assignment) on the Head Start Fade effect. The researcher employed retrospective data analysis using a longitudinal explanatory design on data…

A descriptive quantitative study design was used to determine the impact of induction and mentoring on the success, satisfaction, and retention of new and novice school principals. Three research questions addressed the types of induction experiences new and novice principals reported, the types of support given to new and novice principals, and…

This case study explored multiple teachers' instructional strategies in several eleventh grade Language Arts classrooms in one successful Midwest school. A "successful" Midwest school was defined as having attained AYP at least three consecutive years. The study focused on the specific instructional strategies and activities used when…

Play is so important that it is declared as one of the human rights by the United Nations. Although it is focused on children, play does "not" stop there. In the 1990s the author designed and facilitated a blended curriculum for a Head Start Program. The instructional goal was to introduce and get the children to effectively and…