A downturn in attendance at the 1999 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) convention indicates that athletics administrators in Division I are losing interest in the event. Under the organization's new structure, Division I legislation is handled by small committees that meet in the course of the academic year or in closed sessions.…

Increasingly, college-student populations in all types of institutions have higher proportions of women, while young men are tending toward lucrative early employment and economic independence. The process begins in high school, where girls are concentrating on college preparation and boys are being recruited by high-technology companies. The…

Classes of 100 students or more are not uncommon in higher education. With such large enrollments, it can be difficult for instructors to integrate active learning components to the traditional lecture format typically adopted in such large classes. To help address this problem, Johnny El-Rady discusses his use of an electronic classroom voting…

Universal measures of school functioning/impairment (i.e., grade point average, subject failures, absenteeism, disciplinary referrals/suspensions) were examined over the course of 1 school year for a cohort of 89 special education students classified as having emotional disturbance (ED) who were taught in a unique public school program. On average…

This article reports the aggressive outreach efforts exerted by various schools in fighting truancy among its students. These actions were driven in part by the No Child Left Behind Act, which required schools and districts to improve their students' academic performance or face sanctions. According to educators, ensuring that students show up for…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) NCLB Turns Five: Key Players in Reauthorization Process Celebrate Fifth Anniversary of Landmark Education Law, Begin…

In 2004, Chapin Hall researchers conducted a study to learn why youth ran way from substitute care (Courtney, et al., 2005). As part of the study, qualitative interviews were conducted with 46 youth who had run away from care and 16 professionals and foster parents who worked with these youth. Although the youth were not prompted with specific…

This is the 11th annual report on conditions affecting the Racine Unified School District (RUSD). Analysis continues to focus on the long-term historical trends in RUSD, comparing RUSD to nine peer school districts and the State of Wisconsin. RUSD peer districts are Wisconsin's largest (Milwaukee Public Schools are not included) and their…

Character includes the emotional, intellectual and moral qualities of a person or group as the demonstration of these qualities in prosocial behavior. Character education is an inclusive term encompassing all aspects of how schools, related social institutions and parents can support the positive character development of children and adults.…

This literature review focuses on the overrepresentation of African-American males in special education. The most prevalent factors that contribute to this epidemic are poverty and the perceptions of teachers, their attitudes towards African-American men and the lack of their cultural understandings. Not only does this literature review focus on…

This paper investigates the determinants and malleability of noncognitive skills. Using data on boys from the National Education Longitudinal Survey, I focus on youth behavior in the classroom as a measure of noncognitive skills. I find that student behavior during adolescence is persistent. The variation in behavior can be attributed to…

The Annual Condition of Education Report provides a wide range of state-level data, including shifts in student populations and demographics, teacher salaries and characteristics, student achievement results, and school financial information. A few examples of the categories presented in this 22nd edition report include: (1) Enrollment; (2) Early…

As part of compliance with with the federal No Child Left Behind Act, this document presents the State Report Card of Arizona for 2009-2010. The report card provides tables relating to percentage of students who passed AIMS in Arizona by subject and grade. The tables shown in this document include: (1) Mathematics Grade 3; (2) Reading Grade 3; (3)…

Despite nationwide decreases in school crime and violence, a relatively high and increasing number of students report feeling unsafe at school. In response, some school officials are implementing school-police partnerships, especially in urban areas, as an effort to deter criminal activity and violence in schools. This article examines the initial…

This article presents a longitudinal case study of an urban high school as it transitioned from one comprehensive reform model to another over a 10-year period. The study is based on qualitative interview data and quantitative data on student outcomes. Despite evidence of improved student outcomes during this reform period, the school could not…