I set out to explore the question: How do middle-class, working-class and low-income mothers experience their children's out of school summer time? Using qualitative basic interpretive approach, study findings draw from interview data, journal entries and participant observations from a study completed with 22 mothers of varying socioeconomic…

This report is intended to provide a snapshot of the children in the ECLS-K:2011 cohort who were in kindergarten for the first time in the 2010-11 school year and advanced to first grade in the following year. Information is presented on selected child and family characteristics, such as poverty status and parental education (table 1), obtained…

In June 2014, President Obama embarked on his first presidential visit to Indian Country, where he and Mrs. Obama witnessed the tale of two Americas. Standing Rock Reservation, like many others, faces myriad social, economic, and educational problems. Together, those problems are coalescing into a crisis for our most vulnerable population--Native…

The challenge of improving the performance of public schools has been given attention from a variety of advocacy groups, researchers, government agencies, education organizations and schools. Since the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 2002, titled No Child Left Behind, the stakes for public schools are higher.…

In the process of China's transformation from a socialist to a post-socialist society, China's entire system of education has experienced breathtaking expansion and reform. In this context, first-tier universities increasingly accept students from more financially well off backgrounds. While second-tier universities are inclined to accept more…

Children from low-income families are at risk of learning outcome difficulties, particularly in literacy. Various studies link poor literacy results with performance later in primary and secondary school, and suggest that poverty, literacy skills and weak instructional methods combine to drastically limit the educational opportunities for many…

Following on the 1990 and 2000 World Conferences on Education for All, African governments increased their focus on access to schooling (but not necessarily on outcomes) by providing more facilities for increased enrolments. The learning outcomes that had been neglected led to a call to focus on more sustainable access--re-examining the quality of…

Engaging students in effective technology use and literacy learning is an ongoing challenge, particularly for students who are impacted by poverty. Exemplary teaching and teachers' pedagogical choices play a critical role in addressing this challenge. This paper illustrates the practices of teachers, identified to be exemplary in engaging students…

The purpose of Science in Action (SIA) was to examine the relationship between implementing quality science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) service-learning (SL) projects and the effect on students' academic engagement in middle school science, civic responsibility, and resilience to at-risk behaviors. The innovative project funded by…

Transitions to postsecondary education for GED graduates are a growing concern for educators and policy makers. This article analyzes the educational, demographic, and financial characteristics of Pennsylvania postsecondary students with a GED credential compared with traditional high school graduates, and identifies rural-urban differences within…

Prior research on Troops to Teachers (TTT) affirms that TTTs are effective instructors likely to work in high-poverty, high-minority schools, teach high-demand subjects, use research-based instructional and classroom management practices linked with student achievement, and plan to stay in the profession. A nonexperimental, mixed method design…

Taiwan has over the past three decades been experiencing demographic changes that may pose important concerns for children's quality of life. This study examines the relationships and potential pathways between family structure transitions and early childhood development. Our analysis is based on 19,499 children from the 2005 birth cohort who…

Amid reports of decreased instructional time in music and art in some districts (Heilig, Cole, and Aguilar 2010; McMurrer 2008; Rabkin and Hedberg 2011), researchers, policymakers, and practitioners have questioned the status of arts education in the United States (Sabol 2013). Evidence about how elementary and secondary schools staff their arts…

Pathways to Postsecondary Opportunities are the range of options created across education institutions, training providers, and community-­based organizations so that each and every young person can access the necessary and personally relevant credentials, skills, and training beyond the completion of a secondary credential that will propel…

While progress to close racial achievement gaps has stagnated and income achievement gaps have grown, recent case studies enthusiastically describe "transformational" schools, which claim to establish conditions that enable students--primarily poor students of color--to achieve at levels far higher than their social background predicts.…