Life expectancy in the United States has been in decline for the first time in decades, and public health officials have identified a litany of potential causes, including inaccessible health care, rising drug addiction and rates of mental health disorders, and socio-economic factors. But disentangling these variables and assessing their relative impact has been difficult. Now, a multi-institutio
There is growing interest across the country in dual enrollment programs, which allow students to earn a high school diploma and college credits at the same time. Many policymakers and practitioners see these programs as a way to increase college access and better prepare students for postsecondary success. A body of research from the American Institutes for Research (AIR) confirms that one type
The expanded role of community colleges into the bachelor’s degree arena is not without controversy, but it is proving, among state leaders, to be a strategy for meeting workforce demands, improving access to educational opportunities and addressing affordability in higher education. A new Policy Brief highlights the last 10 years of state policy activity pertaining to community college bachelor’
Teacher turnover has adverse consequences for student achievement and imposes large financial costs for schools. Some have argued that high-stakes testing may lower teachers’ satisfaction with their jobs and could be a major contributor to teacher attrition. This paper exploits changes in the tested grades and subjects in Georgia to study the effects of eliminating high-stakes testing on teacher
More than 725,000 of California’s K-12 students qualified for special education services in 2018-19, but they entered a system that is often ill-equipped to serve them. This brief summarizes the findings from the PACE Policy Research Panel on Special Education: Organizing Schools to Serve Students with Disabilities in California. There are opportunities for improvement in early screening, identif
The nation’s community colleges play a central role in producing a more educated workforce and promoting social mobility. They serve about 40 percent of all college students and, not surprisingly, they serve a disproportionate number of low-income and underrepresented students. But most students who enter these colleges do not graduate — only about a third of entering students earn a degree or ce
Despite research demonstrating the importance of student–teacher relationships for student functioning, little is known about strategies to enhance such relationships, particularly in secondary school. The current study examined effects of a professional development for middle school teachers on the Establish-Maintain-Restore (EMR) approach. EMR aims to enhance teachers’ skills in cultivating rel
“Full article: Is College Remediation a Barrier or a Boost? Evidence from Tennessee ” College remediation classes often waylay first-year college students on their way to a degree, saddling them with extra course costs and decreasing their likelihood of earning a diploma. Tennessee is trying to change that. In a new article for Education Next , researchers examine two alternate remediation approa
A study published online as an accepted paper in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine found that later school start times were associated with a significant drop in vehicle accidents involving teen drivers. Researchers analyzed motor vehicle accident statistics involving adolescents in Fairfax County, Virginia, for two school years before and after the implementation of later school start times
Using value-added models, this study finds that high schools impact students’ self-reported socioemotional development (SED) by enhancing social well-being and promoting hard work. Conditional on schools’ test score impacts, schools that improve SED reduce school-based arrests, and increase high-school completion, college-going, and college persistence. Schools that improve social well-being have
Using rich administrative data from North Carolina and school-course fixed effects models, this study explores whether the availability of same-race instructors in advanced-track sections of courses affects Black high school students’ enrollment in, and performance in, advanced-track courses. The availability of at least one Black instructor at the advanced level is associated with a 2 percentage
Depression, anxiety, impulsive behaviour and poor cognitive performance in children is affected by the amount of sleep they have, researchers from the University of Warwick have found. Sleep states are active processes that support reorganisation of brain circuitry. This makes sleep especially important for children, whose brains are developing and reorganizing rapidly. In the paper 'Sleep durati
Education Commission of the States has tracked and reported annually on legislation pertaining to school and district leaders for three years. In that time, enacted legislation has centered on three areas: alternative licensure,
