The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study was to understand the community college online instructors' and online students' perceptions of the underlying reasons for academic underachievement at a California community college. The study comprised eight online instructors and seven online students at a community college in California.…

Since the late 1960s, the enrollment of African American students in higher education has steadily increased. Furthermore, the community college system and specifically the California community college system has seen the highest rise in the enrollment of African American students. Despite the rise in their numbers, African American male students…

The following research sought to investigate the impact of a comprehensive school counseling program based on the American School Counselor Association's Recognized (ASCA) Model Program known as RAMP, on student achievement and college readiness. The study was conducted on a comprehensive high school campus in California, which included 2,700…

Recent global events have led to a striking rise of displaced people and refugees worldwide. Every year, the United States resettles nearly 70,000 refugees, with a large minority resettling in one California school district. Approximately 3000 students from refugee families are enrolled in local schools, many of whom lack prior formal education in…

Empirical Education Inc. is the independent evaluator of SRI International's 2014 Investing in Innovation (i3) Development grant called Redesigning Secondary Courses to Improve Academic Outcomes for Adolescents with Disabilities and Other Underperforming Adolescents. The goal of the grant is to develop "Enhanced Units" that combine…

The purpose of this study was to find out which corrective actions have a positive impact on improving students' learning and achievement and ultimately moving underperforming elementary schools out of Program Improvement (PI) status in California. Some common corrective actions include, but are not limited to, instructional program, instructional…

This manuscript focuses on practical questions in a study that describes the perceptions of four teachers at the beginning stages of Common Core Mathematics implementation in a historically underperforming school district. The overarching goal was to understand the collaborative inquiry experience in a lesson study that focused on teaching the…

Whatever their major, students are often required to take at least one course in statistics. After graduation, statistics is a key skill in numerous workplace settings. However, for many, it is a particularly difficult course. One factor that may play a role is the lingering misconception that women are not as good as men in mathematics subjects…

Hoping to spur dramatic school turnaround, the federal government channeled resources to the country's lowest-performing schools through School Improvement Grants (SIG). However, prior research on SIG effectiveness is limited and focuses primarily on student achievement. This study uses a difference-in-differences strategy to estimate program…

Hoping to spur dramatic school turnaround, the federal government channeled resources to the country's lowest-performing schools through School Improvement Grants (SIG). However, prior research on SIG effectiveness is limited and focuses primarily on student achievement. This study uses a difference-in-differences strategy to estimate program…

Receiving, accommodation and education of children with immigrant background is one of the challenging issues in almost all the metropolitan areas in many countries. In our study we are exploring the impact of demographic changes on political agendas, legal frames, educational approaches, research findings and student achievement in the field of…

Urban high schools are in trouble--high dropout rates, low student academic achievement, and graduates who are unprepared for college are just some of the disappointing indicators. However, recent research points to a select number of approaches to improving student outcomes and reforming underperforming schools--from particular ways of creating…

Involving parents in the college-planning process is essential to increasing access for students from low-income communities of color. Using the action inquiry model, we explore how collaboration between a school district and a university can empower parents to engage in meaningful conversations and planning related to college access. This…

Given educators' call to equalize educational opportunities, research is needed to illuminate promises and tensions in schools that resist negative labeling and sorting of nondominant youth. This article examines an urban high school that challenges traditional expectations for low-income, Latina/o students by engaging in "relabeling," a…

Recent work suggests the importance of collaboration among district-office and school leaders. Most studies examine prosocial relationships, but negative social ties, which may be more consequential, are rarely examined. We collected survey data from 78 educational leaders on perceptions of culture and negative relationships and used…