Currently school reform discourse encourages states to adopt college readiness standards. Meanwhile, federal and state accountability and related mandated reforms remain a policy concern. As such, it is important to examine the interplay between accountability and the establishment of a college-going culture in high "minority", high…

This is a case study about a group of African American parents that banded together in an effort to increase their own involvement, the involvement of other African American parents, and the success of African American students at one public high school. The various ways in which this group of parents sought to accomplish their goals, however, was…

The purpose of this case study was to discover the critical attributes of a student achievement program, known as "Think Gold," implemented at one urban comprehensive high school as part of the improvement process. Student achievement on state assessments improved during the period under study. The study draws upon perspectives on motivation as a…

Teachers and administrators have access to large volumes of data but research suggests that they lack the skills to use data effectively for continuous school improvement. This study involved a cross-case analysis of two high school leadership teams' early stages of evidence-based practice development; differing forms of external support were…

The purpose of this study was to examine academic disidentification along with demographic and psychological factors related to the academic achievement of African American adolescents. Participants included 96 African American students (41 males, 55 females) in an urban high school setting located in the Southwest. Consistent with previous…

Marijuana remains one of the most frequently used drugs among adolescents and usage has increased in recent years. In addition to general use, many high school students use marijuana during the school day. The present study focused on achievement-linked correlates of in-school marijuana use by comparing non-users, general users, and school users…

Despite the historical mission of career academies to expand opportunities and engagement of minority students, particularly African American students, more recent curricular changes in the career academy model have increased the rigor of these types of programs. These new initiatives have undoubtedly resulted in a demographic shift with more…

Educators and researchers have long been interested in determinants of access to honors level and college prep courses in high school. Factors influencing access to upper level mathematics courses are particularly important because of the hierarchical and sequential nature of this subject and because students who finish high school with only lower…

Even with the history of debate over the merits of homework, there are significant gaps in the research record regarding its benefit to students. The focus of this study is on the association between time spent on homework and academic performance in science and math by assessing survey and transcript data from two nationally representative…

Identifying what commonalities exist in high schools where students consistently outperform other demographically similar students is of particular interest to administrators and practitioners looking to increase graduation rates among all students. Schools that particularly improve the performance of students with special needs and those from…

Predictors of parental home and school involvement for high school adolescents were examined within two groups of urban African American parents from various socioeconomic levels. Home involvement was defined as parent-adolescent communication about school and learning, while school involvement was defined in terms of parent attendance and…

Students in the secondary education pipeline, the 6-year period between 7th and 12th grades, deal with external and internal conditions that facilitate or hinder progress to graduation and beyond--these conditions offer resilience or resistance and influence student movement through public schools. This study follows an urban middle school cohort…

Over the past two decades, the perceived failed promise of the comprehensive high school to effectively educate America's youth has generated a national interest in high school reform. One such area of reform is a movement to restructure high schools as small learning communities centered around unique curriculum and state-of-the-art teaching.…

This study of adolescent boys' literacy builds on motivation theory and uses the Motivations for Reading Questionnaire (Wigfield, Guthrie, & McGough, 1996) as a foundation. Survey and achievement data were collected from 330 students and eight teachers at a Catholic, all-boys high-school. Results suggest that the motivational constructs identified…

In an effort to improve college readiness for Latina/o students, this article examines the meaning and significance of college readiness among multiple stakeholders (teachers, counselors, parents, students, and superintendents) in the South Texas border region. Using focus group data, this article explores the assets embedded within college…