The federal "Promise Neighborhoods" program underscores the importance of all children and youth having "access to great schools and strong systems of family and community support that will prepare them to attain an excellent education and successfully transition to college and a career." From this perspective, this brief stresses the importance…

In 2011-2012, eight schools in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) adopted a PK-8 structure. The Office of Program Evaluation in the College of Education at the University of South Carolina is collaborating with the CMS Center for Research and Evaluation to better understand the PK-8 transition process as well as academic and behavioral…

This study examined the effect of a quasi-experimental project on fifth grade English learners' achievement in state-mandated standards-based science and English reading assessment. A total of 166 treatment students and 80 comparison students from four randomized intermediate schools participated in the current project. The intervention consisted…

After more than a decade (and four years behind schedule) Congress finally seems ready to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. For years, critics have complained that the law's focus on test scores offers far too narrow a picture for judging school quality. There is also concern that the "adequate yearly progress," or…

The purpose of this study was to examine directors' views on the current state and needs of 2009-2010 North Carolina 21st Century Community Learning Center (21st CCLC) afterschool educational technology professional development (ETPD). The population for this study involved the 2009-2010 North Carolina 21st CCLC directors. In a mixed methods study…

Race to the Top represented a new paradigm in federal education. Instead of spreading relatively modest dollars evenly across all jurisdictions through funding formulas--as virtually all federal education funding has been and continues to be spent--a small number of successful states received all of the available funding, and in turn made it…

Pressure to meet federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB, 2002) mandates, show Adequate Yearly Progress, and stem the tide of academic underachievement have provided critical challenges for American schools. Due to these challenges, many schools may practice a controversial curricular design commonly known as tracking. The purpose of this study…

Only recently have school districts across the nation begun to offer Algebra I to all eighth grade students. Currently, most eighth grade Algebra I curriculum does not have a national consistent focus of topics or level of rigor. A key issue of implementing Algebra I in eighth grade is defining national Algebra I concepts and skills that students…

School districts looking for ways to minimize summer learning loss have implemented a variety of programs to combat this problem. Since No Child Left Behind and the need for school districts to meet the goals of Adequate Yearly Progress, it is no longer enough to limit summer learning loss. Now school leaders find it necessary to use the summer…

This paper investigates the long-term impact of participation in the Chicago School Readiness Project (CSRP) during the Head Start year on children's behavioral outcomes at the end of their Kindergarten year. The primary questions addressed in the paper are: (1) What is the experimental impact of CSRP on two-year change (from Fall Head Start to…

The study examined the effects of the federally funded Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) program on student performance on mandated standardized tests. The study focused on the mathematics and reading scores of Illinois public elementary and middle and junior high school students. The federal CSR program provided Illinois schools with an annual…

This paper outlines a method of determining the achieved relative strength (ARS) of an intervention by calculating the extent to which core intervention components are present in both the treatment and control condition. Using data from several examples the authors demonstrate how to calculate ARS indices, and subsequently how to incorporate them…

Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, a significant amount of funding has been targeted to improve state and local education systems. The Race to the Top Fund in particular is providing $4.35 billion in competitive grants for states. The U.S. Department of Education designated two phases for the Race to the Top grant…

The Secretary of Education (Secretary) establishes priorities, requirements, definitions, and selection criteria under the Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) program. These priorities, requirements, definitions, and selection criteria will be used in two separate and distinct TIF grant competitions: The Main TIF competition, which will provide TIF…

This paper explores the experiences of teaching assistants studying for a Foundation degree programme and the perceived impacts such a programme has on their job role and self-esteem. A review of the related literature gave rise to three research questions that were addressed via focus groups with teaching assistants employed across four different…