This brief examines the work patterns of 16- to 17-year-old high school students, focusing on: whether teens in low-income families work as much as or more than other teens; how high school students' work patterns vary by race and gender; and whether work by teenagers is associated with negative school-related outcomes. Research indicates that…

This annual report examines student achievement in U.S. schools, using evidence released in the previous 12 months to investigate the enormous gap between the U.S. and other nations in mathematics achievement and analyze the gap in reading achievement between the nation's best and worst fourth-grade readers. The report also explores the culture of…

This study examined demographic, clinical, and criminal histories as they related to whether 244 youth (ages 12-18) referred for mental health services at a juvenile corrections facility were repeat or first-time offenders. The population of 244 patients included 144 first-time offenders and 100 repeat offenders. Results of the study found that…

This paper examines the extent to which alternative education can meet the needs of disconnected youth who are at risk of economic and social hardship. It summarizes characteristics of disconnected youth, risk factors associated with disconnection, and characteristics of students in selected alternative education settings. The most common factors…

This study of Law School Admission Test (LSAT) performance by selected subgroups has been conducted to provide some baseline information that can later be referenced in a variety of projects and activities. The study provides a detailed psychometric analysis, by selected gender and ethnic subgroup membership, of LSAT Form OLSS1. This form was…

The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K) follows a nationally representative sample of children from kindergarten through fifth grade. This study analyzed the first results from the ECLS-K about kindergartners performance on a variety of reading and mathematics tasks, and it gathered valuable contextual…

This report presents district-by-district achievement data on 57 major city school systems in reading and mathematics. State assessment results were collected from state Web sites, reports, and databases. Data were analyzed by race/ethnicity when reported. Overall, the Great City Schools have made meaningful gains in math scores on state…

This study investigated the early labor market experiences of second generation immigrants in the Netherlands, focusing on Turks, Moroccans, Surinamese, and Antilleans. Researchers examined those leaving school and their job experiences. Data came from a 1998 nationwide survey involving the four minority groups and a Dutch reference group in 13…

This report illustrates how official poverty rates vary by age, race and Hispanic origin, nativity, family composition, work experience, and geography. The official poverty rate rose from 11.7 to 12.1 percent between 2001-2002. In 2002, people below the official poverty thresholds numbered 34.6 million, 1.7 million higher than in 2001. At 16.7…

This paper uses data from the 1990 and 2000 Census of Population and the Census 2000 Supplemental Survey to examine how U.S. cities are being reshaped by immigration. Overall, immigrants have a similar socioeconomic profile to that of persons of the same race/ethnicity born in the United States. Among African Americans, immigrants are doing better…

This study tracked the careers, over 2 years, of 193 young English people (particularly at-risk groups) after their permanent exclusion from mainstream schools during 9th, 10th, or 11th grade. The study investigated the impact of pre- and post-exclusion processes, provisions, and outcomes on these young people's life-chances and wider indicators…

This study contains an analysis of admissions practices at the University of Virginia (UVA), originally reported in 1996 and updated for this report. It contains improved data from 1996 and additional data for 1999. Among the findings are that Whites and Asians admitted to the UVA have roughly the same verbal Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT)…

The Educational Integration Initiatives Project (EIIP) was a multidisciplinary study designed to explore the complexities of the interaction of race and education. The EIIP also evaluated how the environment in which students are educated affects their educational performance and personal development. The study begins with a history of the…

The relationships among students' scores on the American College Test (ACT) Science Reasoning test, their science course work in high school, and their out-of-class accomplishments in science were studied. Data were from nearly one million ACT-tested students in the high school graduating class of 1998. Analyses were done for the total group of…

This paper compares racial and ethnic enrollment in Milwaukee private schools between 1994-95, when the legislature expanded the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP), and 1998-99, when the expansion was first implemented. While some predicted that more choice would worsen racial and ethnic segregation, researchers instead found that it…