This study is a randomized control trial of full- versus half-day prekindergarten (pre-K) in a school district near Denver, Colorado. Four-year-old children were randomly assigned an offer of half-day (4 days/week) or full-day (5 days/week) pre-K that increased class time by 600 hours. The full-day pre-K offer produced substantial, positive…

In Indiana and Minnesota the state education agency, state higher education agency, and the state workforce agency have collaborated to develop career and technical education courses intended to improve high school students' college and career readiness. These agencies partnered with the Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest to examine whether…

Classroom discussion boards are a vital part of the online educational experience, providing a venue for peer to peer and student to faculty interactions. However, institutional feedback from students at a large open enrollment university has shown that excess focus on online discussions may lead to fatigue, resulting in lower student…

The U.S. Department of Education tested a set of promising, low-cost advising strategies, called "Find the Fit," designed to help low-income and "first generation" students enrolled in the Department's Upward Bound program choose more selective colleges and stay in until they complete a degree. About 200 Upward Bound projects…

The purpose of this research study was to evaluate iPersonalize, a gamified instructional approach developed by Fullerton School District (FSD) in California to encourage student engagement and promote achievement. An instructional approach is considered gamified when it incorporates computer game elements to augment existing classroom,…

The purpose of this research study was to evaluate iPersonalize, a gamified instructional approach developed by Fullerton School District (FSD) in California to encourage student engagement and promote achievement. An instructional approach is considered gamified when it incorporates computer game elements to augment existing classroom,…

This study reports on an evaluation of the "Reading Partners" program, which uses community volunteers to provide one-on-one tutoring to struggling readers in underresourced elementary schools. Established in 1999 in East Menlo Park, California, the mission of "Reading Partners" is to help children become lifelong readers by…

Senior year of high school can be a pivotal time in a young person's life. For some, it is the last step on the path to college and work. For others, finding stable employment or attending university after high school is far from guaranteed. Urban Alliance, headquartered in Washington, DC, helps students at risk of becoming disconnected from work…

Student engagement in online learning remains a challenge for the design of effective coursework. Additionally, few analyses have focused on student-produced activities in the online mode or upon how such class activity affects student subgroups differently. We conducted a randomized design experiment with student video production at a large…

This evaluation report presents implementation and impact findings to date regarding the Striving Readers grant as implemented by the Springfield and Chicopee Public School Districts. Any questions regarding this final report should be directed to the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) at the U.S. Department of Education. There…

In 2002, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched the Early College High School Initiative (ECHSI) with the primary goal of increasing the opportunity for underserved students to earn a postsecondary credential. To achieve this goal, Early Colleges provide underserved students with exposure to, and support in, college while they are in…

The present study utilizes a multilevel approach to assess the effects of four different types of intervention on college student retention, focusing on the interaction effects between the student characteristics and the types of intervention. The program effects on a 3-year trend are also explored. The findings of the present study reveal that…

High schools have recently become a popular source of mentors for school-based mentoring (SBM) programs. The high school Bigs program of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, for example, currently involves close to 50,000 high-school-aged mentors across the country. While the use of these young mentors has several potential advantages, their age…

One hundred forty fourth graders were asked to solve proportion problems about juice-mixing situations both before and after an intervention that used a manipulative model or other materials in three experiments. Results indicate different approaches appear to be necessary to facilitate children's proportional reasoning, depending on the reasoning…