"The First-Year Seminar: Designing, Implementing, and Assessing Courses to Support Student Learning and Success," a five-volume series, is designed to assist educators who are interested in launching a first-year seminar or revamping an existing program. Each volume examines a different aspect of first-year seminar design or…

In 2009, Lumina Foundation officially adopted its Big Goal that 60 percent of Americans obtain a high-quality postsecondary degree or credential by 2025. That same year, Lumina began reporting on progress toward the Big Goal in a series of reports titled "A Stronger Nation through Higher Education". The core of the reports is Census data…

In 1970, prior to the 1972 enactment of Title IX, there were only 2.5 women's teams per school and a total of only about 16,000 female intercollegiate athletes. In 1977/1978, the academic year preceding the mandatory compliance date for Title IX, the number of varsity sports for women had grown to 5.61 per school. A decade later, in 1988, the…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of governance and managerial characteristics of schools. More specifically, the aim is to individuate the factors that are associated to higher schools' performances, as measured through student achievement. Design/methodology/approach: The research is conducted by means of a survey in…

How many students repeat a grade each year? How do retention rates vary across states and over time? Despite extensive research on the predictors and consequences of grade retention, there is no systematic way to quantify state-level retention rates; even national estimates rely on imperfect proxy measures. We present a conceptually simple…

The competitive dynamics that sustain stratification among postsecondary institutions have reinforced racial inequality in selective college enrollment between 1972 and 2004. Using a data set constructed from four nationally representative surveys (National Longitudinal Survey 1972, High School & Beyond 1980, National Educational Longitudinal…

Schools in England (as elsewhere in Europe) have a duty to promote equality for disabled people and make reasonable adjustments for disabled children. There is, however, a degree of uncertainty about how well-placed parents are addressed to use the legislation to ensure their child's needs. This paper presents data drawn from a national…

The 2012 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education was designed to provide up-to-date information and to identify trends in the areas of teacher background and experience, curriculum and instruction, and the availability and use of instructional resources. A total of 7,752 science and mathematics teachers in schools across the United…

The 2012 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education was designed to provide up-to-date information and to identify trends in the areas of teacher background and experience, curriculum and instruction, and the availability and use of instructional resources. A total of 7,752 science and mathematics teachers in schools across the United…

The forthcoming Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) aim to reshape K-12 science education, but making the vision a reality will require changes throughout the education system. What teachers ultimately do in the classroom depends on a host of factors, including state and district policies, school structures and supports, preservice…

The 2012 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education was designed to provide up-to-date information and to identify trends in the areas of teacher background and experience, curriculum and instruction, and the availability and use of instructional resources. A total of 7,752 science and mathematics teachers in schools across the United…

In the past 15 years, the need for quality school-age child care has combined with concerns about children's academic performance, delinquency, and safety to create tremendous momentum around out-of-school time (OST) programming. Public funding for programs has simultaneously increased, bringing greater demand from policymakers and private funders…

Achieve's research suggests that for high school graduates to be prepared for success in postsecondary settings, they need to take four years of challenging mathematics--including content at least through Algebra II or its equivalent--and four years of rigorous English aligned with college- and career-ready standards. This paper offers a…

Current accountability reform requires annual assessment for all students, including students with disabilities. Testing accommodations are one way to increase access to assessments while maintaining the validity of test scores. This paper provides findings from an exploratory logistic regression analysis of predictors of four accommodations used…

Never before have Americans had greater access to information about school quality. Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), all school districts are required to distribute annual report cards detailing student achievement levels at each of their schools. Local newspapers frequently cover the release of state test results, emphasizing…