Background: The past half-century has resulted in a substantial expansion of early childhood center-based care in the United States. Today, over 74% of American children aged 3-5 attend center-based care (U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2021). Although public pre-k is considered socially favorable,…

We investigate the mechanisms by which a student's age relative to classmates (i.e., relative age) influences risky health behaviors among European adolescents. Using a two-stage least squares approach, we show that relatively young students are more prone to engage in risky behaviors. These results hold after controlling for absolute age, country…

High-achieving teenage students (HATS) take Advanced Placement (AP) courses to fulfill two goals: boost their grade point average (GPA) and maintain or increase their class rank. To assist in accomplishing these goals, HATS access social media (SM) and technology. Smart devices, laptops, and tablets provide easy access for HATS to build social…

Purpose: In the wake of interlocking pandemics, educational systems are resetting in important ways, pursuing aims that are not exclusively instructional (e.g., social justice, well-being). As systems (re)build, they may vary in how they manage their institutional and policy environments, which may or may not be reorienting toward these same…

This dissertation explored the role mentors play in female students' selection of a college for undergraduate education. Domestic and international female students enrolled full-time at a University in the Southeastern United States were engaged in a focus group setting to understand how mentors influence the college choice process. While research…

A growing body of evidence suggests that decision-makers fail to account for correlation in signals that they receive. We study the relevance of this mistake in students' interactions with school-choice matching mechanisms. In a lab experiment presenting simple and incentivized school-choice scenarios, we find that subjects tend to follow optimal…

This study examines differences in educational experiences and outcomes for high school (HS) students who participated in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Program and earned full diplomas compared to those who participated in the IB Diploma Program but did not earn the diploma. ACT scores, after-HS placement, and HS graduation rates of…

The EIR-funded Work-Based Learning for Computer Science (WBL4CS) grant implemented a three-course, two-year Computer Science (CS) pathway in 20 Rhode Island High Schools. Evaluators from Education Development Center (EDC) employed a cluster randomized controlled trial to study the impact of integrating a Work-Based Learning course into the first…

The U.S. law governing special education, the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), requires that students with disabilities be provided a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE). However, given the interpretive latitude within the law and the wide discrepancy in how this law is applied,…

Autistic adults are often challenged to engage in and complete life skill tasks independently and are underrepresented in employment. No prior study has explored the perceptions of autistic individuals regarding K-12 life skills experiences and postsecondary employment. As such, the purposes of this study were to explore the association between…

Youth in foster care are more likely than their peers to require mental health supports to promote their well-being, and this level of need has likely been heightened by individual, familial, system-level, and societal factors arising during the COVID-19 pandemic. These changes have simultaneously produced a shortage in the supply of available…

This paper examines how placement in high-achieving classrooms within high school impacts students' short- and longer-term academic outcomes. Our setting is a large and selective Chinese high school, where first-year students are separated into high-achieving and regular classrooms based on their performance on a standardized exam. Classrooms…

Health clinicians are required to make use of feedback to form effective judgements and deliver efficacious health care. In health education, clinical placements provide an opportunity for students to translate knowledge to practise and develop expertise. During placements students are expected to engage with and act on feedback in order to…

This article interrogates the purpose of the International Baccalaureate (IB), which is becoming an increasingly prominent feature of education systems worldwide. It specifically explores the enduring tensions between claims of a distinctively well-rounded education aimed at the whole person and the more instrumental function of enabling students…

The study aimed to investigate the effectiveness and challenges of using monolingual dictionaries among second-year technical students at the Technical Institute of Research in Basrah. The research employed a quasi-experimental design, and the required data was collected from 120 students who were categorized as upper intermediate learners based…