Much of education policy focuses on improving teacher quality, but most policies lack strong research support. We use student achievement gains to estimate teacher value-added, our measure of teacher quality. The analysis reveals substantial variation in the quality of instruction, most of which occurs within rather than between schools. Although…

With support from the William T. Grant Foundation, Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP) is conducting a research study on the factors associated with whether children and youth participate in out-of-school time (OST) programs and activities. Building on our previous work, we are using national data to examine the many factors and contexts in…

This study explored how many teachers were leaving public school districts in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, and Wisconsin during their first 5 years in teaching. Researchers analyzed four types of novice teachers, including those who: taught continuously in the same district all 5 years, transferred to another district within the state but…

This report proposes an approach to formalize the law school admission process by first requiring law schools to delineate the characteristics they want their incoming classes to possess (e.g., types of undergraduate major, percent of in-state versus out-of-state residents, and levels of cultural diversity). These are then used as constraints on…

The purpose of this article is to assess six habits of academic achievement by African American male students from households of poverty whom been successful in completing a 5-A high school program of study. Despite the wealth of research that indicates a great disparity among racial and gender groups with regard to standardized assessment,…

A significant number of African American students are failing mathematics courses. Identifying the causes of the students failing mathematics courses will solve a problem that has existed for almost a century. Current research will state that disparities in mathematics exist in American schools. The essay will research reasons why African American…

The most significant problem of African American students in America's schools is the wide achievement gap in mathematics. Achievement of minority students lags behind that of Whites and non-minority students. This research will show facts as they exist today in America's schools relating to the achievement gap dilemma. It is well known and…

Race is only one of the prisms through which to examine the political and social life of Americans, but it is one in which there has been insufficient determination of contemporary dynamics. For this discussion, the most important issue is the debate within the black community regarding the nature and causes of the crisis facing African Americans…

Although the gap between women's and men's wages differs slightly depending on how the gap is measured, no matter how they are measured, women's earnings are below those received by men in 97% of the occupations for which data are available. Since 1979, women's earnings have been climbing when compared with men's earnings, gaining steeply during…

The evolution of an inclusivist immigration and naturalization policy in the United States is described. The policy, implicit in the founding myth of the United States as a haven for all, has been challenged repeatedly by ideas of national membership, and is only possible because of the American principles of universal rights. The founding ideals…

"The Bell Curve" by Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray has generated enormous debate as a result of its claim that there is a connection between race and intelligence. The essays of this collection respond to "The Bell Curve" in various ways. Taken together, the following offer an antidote to a work of dubious premises…

This paper explores the complexities of educational and social conditions encountered by black males, examining the possibilities and limits of comprehensive high school reform strategies in overcoming the negative effects of barriers such as concentrated poverty and ineffective public schools for black adolescents. The paper discusses: the…

This is the 19th publication in a series that provides an overview of various aspects of education in South Africa. No publication was produced in 1999 because official data were not yet ready, so this document contains some 1998 information along with that for 1999. Obtaining data on a racial basis remains a problem, and it is recognized that the…

This report presents data for the nation's 50 largest cities for every year from 1990-98 on eight measures of a healthy start to life (teen births, repeat teen births, births to unmarried women, low maternal education, late or no prenatal care, smoking during pregnancy, low-birthweight births, and preterm births). It identifies cities that have…

This issue analyzed college completion rates across populations and over time. It examined the ratios of highest degree completed to the total population that entered college from 1992 to 2000 with specific characteristics such as gender, race/ethnicity, and year. The analysis was designed to be useful in understanding patterns and trends in…