Using state-level panel data, this study estimates a simple achievement function in the fixed-effects format to explore further the nexus between school expenditure and student achievement in the United States. Five main points are noted. First, the effect of per-pupil expenditure is positive and carries high statistical significance in some…

In 1994 a comprehensive reform of upper secondary education was introduced in Norway, giving all 16-year-olds--including SEN students--a statutory right to enter upper secondary. In a longitudinal study following a representative group of SEN students through upper secondary from 1994 until 1999, the main findings were: (1) SEN students in special…

Countries devise policies to encourage higher ability children from low economic backgrounds to attain better education so that they contribute to the nation. A study of the trends in Britain reveal that not withstanding the educational policies, low ability children with high economic status tended to have largest achievements in education.

The recruitment and retainment of new and veteran teachers in schools that experience high poverty and low performance is a constant challenge in US school districts. How a new set of initiatives launched by the School District of Philadelphia resulted in a significant drop in its new teacher attrition rate is examined.

The large achievement gap between white and minority children cannot be bridged by only improving schools. The factors which need to be looked into are health need of the children, providing stable housing to low-income families and increasing the number of professional caregivers during the out-of- school hours.

When Benedict College president Dr. David Swinton noticed the nagging underperformance of his students, he instituted a new grading policy, which has become controversial. But Swinton says the policy could save remedial students, putting them back on track. When Swinton noticed the nagging underperformance of students, and especially the high…

The double-deficit hypothesis provides a framework for identifying students at-risk for persistent reading difficulties. I examined the temporal stability of four double-deficit subtypes (no-deficit, naming-speed deficit, phonological deficit, and double-deficit) in 197 low-performing, first-grade readers. Concurrent analyses in fall and spring…

Turnaround leadership concerns the kind of leadership needed for turning around a persistently low-performing school to one that is performing acceptably as measured by student achievement according to state tests. I first treat this question in the narrow sense, i.e., as a strategy for targeting low-performing schools, and then place it in a…

This article provides a national perspective of children and youth with emotional disturbances (ED) served in special education using data from the Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study and the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2. Data sources comprise teachers, school records, the students, and their parents. Results indicate that…

In this study we compare the distribution of parental educational styles and the scores reported both by parents and students for various family characteristics (acceptance, control, involvement, and expectations) and socio-demographic factors (socio-economic status, family structure, number of children, and order of birth of the children) in a…

This study examined the school experiences and academic achievement of 46 adolescents in families who experienced homelessness and 87 permanently housed adolescents whose families received public assistance. Measures taken after the homeless students were rehoused showed that both groups valued school highly and were similar in cognitive abilities…

A number of factors have been identified that affect academic achievement of learners. Among these factors, organizational culture seems to be a key factor. This is a complex factor characterized by many variables. To classify the variables included in organizational culture, a theoretical model was constructed. Two sets of variables were…

In the mid-nineties, the New York City Schools Chancellor created a citywide improvement zone to take over a significant proportion of the city's lowest performing schools whose local community school districts had failed to improve them. This "Chancellor's District" defined centralized management, rather than local control, as the…

Supporting students to be self-directed learners in classrooms is currently more important than it has ever been in the past. The rapidly changing nature of society, the demands of the "new economy" and the contemporary understanding of life long learning have combined to highlight the need for students to be increasingly independent learners.…

This study explored factors that lead alternative education program completers eventually to drop out of school. When compared with alternative school peers who went on to graduate, certain differences emerge. Those disengaging are more likely to be students of color with lower achievement scores who do not easily engage with school or prosocial…