A study of the 18 "most effective" high schools in California uses analysis of questionnaires completed by administrators of the schools to identify eight recurring general factors of effectiveness. (DCS)

Home-school partnerships improve academic achievement but can also widen the gap in performance related to social class. Educators can learn to adapt outreach policies to the values of working class families. (MD)

Describes the activities of the Walter Prescott Webb Historical Society, a Texas-based student association composed of a private four-year college and three community colleges. The society is dedicated to the study of local history. (DC)

An analysis of the relationship between extracurricular participation and educational expectations among high school girls. Correlations are found between athletic participation or involvement in music and academic orientation. Findings also reveal differences according to the type of interscholastic sport in which girls participate. (Author)

This report presents data on parents' and families' involvement in their children's education in the United States. The data are from the Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey of the 2003 National Household Education Surveys Program (PFI-NHES:2003). The survey was completed by parents of over 12,000 children in kindergarten through…

The problem is the perceived academic shortcomings of America's public schools because of high stakes testing that is expected to increase along with limited funds and resources. The purpose of this study was to find the benefits of the extracurricular activity that students are already participating in at Paramount High School. This is a…

The chapters of this monograph offer insights into educationally purposeful out-of-class activities and the impact they have on the student experience. It also provides future directions for the campus activities field and identifies ways to improve the educational experience of first-year students to enhance their scholarly experience and to…

After-school or out-of-school programs offer additional social, academic, and extracurricular activities and experiences to supplement the regular school day. College preparation programs offer activities that are designed to enable youth to prepare for a variety of college-related tasks, with services including test preparation, academic…

This paper investigates the cross-national institutionalization of formal civics-oriented school curricula and programs and considers how national educational systems contextualize and institutionalize these curricula and programs. In particular, the paper asks if, in nations where civically oriented opportunities are institutionalized as formal…

This study drew on data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 to examine whether children made gains in general knowledge over the summer following their first year of kindergarten, whether general knowledge gains were similar for all children, and whether participation in certain types of summer activities…

School-age children ages 5 through 12 years spend their out-of-school time in many different types of arrangements. In addition to parental care, these include relative care, non-relative care (either in their own or another family's home), center- or school-based programs, sports and extracurricular activities, summer activities, and self-care.…

School district has found synthetic turf football fields are safer, save a minimum of $15,000 per field per year on maintenance, and allow the district to revise sports schedules to permit every school in the district to use the fields part of each season. (Author/JN)

Excerpt from seventh annual government report on vocational education includes recommendations to reinforce the status of vocational student organizations. (AG)