The case stories presented in this publication focus on young people from vulnerable communities that the Asia South Pacific Association for Basic and Adult Education (ASPBAE) members are actively engaged with and who have been mobilized in ASPBAE programs for youth leadership and capacity development. Their narratives showcase the successes of…

Background/Context: Most reforms in elementary education rely on teacher learning and improved instruction to increase student learning. This study increases our understanding of which types of professional development effectively change teaching practice in ways that boost student achievement. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study:…

The academic achievement gap between African American and Caucasian students continues to be a major concern for policymakers and educators. This gap started to shrink in the 1970s and 1980s with integration, but the 1990s showed the achievement gap was on the rise again. The characteristics of the neighborhoods where children live and attend…

This research is a qualitative case study exploring the factors that influence the attrition of mentors in rural areas. Mentoring initiatives and programs have proliferated throughout schools in an effort to provide students with positive role models, increase graduation rates and improve overall performance Mentoring programs are an increasingly…

This article explores teachers' experiences under high-stakes accountability and shows how the narrowing of curriculum depleted teachers' intrinsic work rewards. The article analyzes data from an ethnographic study of teachers' work in two high-poverty urban public schools. The study shows that as instructional mandates emphasized a narrowed…

India is a democratic, socialistic republic that is committed to providing high quality elementary education to all children. This research paper examines and analyses the effects of school, teacher and home factors on learning outcomes in elementary schools in the urban slum areas of Varanasi city and assesses the learning outcomes of students of…

Slums account for around a third of the population of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and are thought to be growing rapidly. But there is little in the research literature about education of children who live in slums and it is doubtful whether they are covered in official statistics such as those on enrolment rates. This paper addresses this gap with…

Prior research on Troops to Teachers (TTT) affirms that TTTs are effective instructors likely to work in high-poverty, high-minority schools, teach high-demand subjects, use research-based instructional and classroom management practices linked with student achievement, and plan to stay in the profession. A nonexperimental, mixed method design…

This research study sought to identify the successful strategies used by teachers in high performing, high poverty schools to address the needs of economically disadvantaged students. The study examined teacher perceptions, motivation factors, and instructional strategies as they relate to the improvement of the academic progress of economically…

In neighborhood-effects research, the voices of young residents are seldom heard. The present study examines how an adolescent sample living in a high-poverty area of Hong Kong is affected by its neighborhood and wider community contexts. Using the method of photovoice, the adolescents expressed their perceptions of the salient characteristics of…

Past studies have shown positive correlations between the arts and academic achievement when the arts were integrated into the literature curriculum. Other studies have shown positive associations between the arts and other areas of the curriculum, such as mathematics and science. Considering the Theory of Change, which employs understandings in…

This article investigates the effect of parents' literacy levels and family income in Uganda on the quality and nature of parents' involvement in their children's primary education. A mixed-methods study with an ethnographic element was employed to explore the views and opinions of 21 participants through a qualitative approach. Methods for data…

The intent of this study is to determine whether there was a difference between school board members' perceptions of their own behaviors and beliefs related to student achievement in California's high-performing poverty districts as opposed to such perceptions in low-performing poverty districts. Due to the findings of this study, the author calls…

Truancy is well documented as an indicator of high risk for drop-out and failure to graduate, as well as a risk factor for delinquency. This report provides a snapshot of truancy in District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) high schools and middle schools in 2010-11. School data on student absenteeism was combined with Census and crime data on…

Much of the achievement gap between rich and poor students can be attributed to out-of-school factors, yet few schools have a comprehensive, coordinated system for addressing students' nonacademic needs. Within a group of Catholic schools located in one city, this study examined academic achievement on the Stanford Achievement Test battery in…