Parents and guardians are the biggest influencers on enrollment for students. Nearly all are invested and involved in the college search process with their students. But are colleges and universities really engaging them? Are they communicating the right information, with the right frequency, across the right channels? Are they helping families…

Nearly all parents and guardians of college-bound high school students are involved in the college search process. Most institutions understand this and would say they communicate with those families or provide information for them. However, is that information really reaching families? Is it accessible, comprehensible, and useful to them? Ruffalo…

In 2022, the Center for the Study of Social Policy and Project SPARC conducted research to better understand the barriers experienced by parenting students participating in CalWORKs, California's cash assistance program for families with children. This brief highlights findings from the research on who parenting students are and their experiences…

In an era of escalating higher education costs, students and families need to be aware of all of their options for financing college and how those financing options work. Financing remains one the top factors for choosing a college, especially for students with greater financial need. Those who do not receive the award packages and financial…

The Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) has synthesized key data on English learners (ELs) into two-page sheets on a variety of subjects. The topics for this report on family-school engagement of families who are speakers of other languages include: (1) Percentage of K-12 Students Whose Parents Participated in School-Sponsored Activities…

While public school enrollment has declined in recent years, Ohio has seen growth in other K-12 education sectors. More than 100,000 Ohio students have been enrolled in community schools (what are commonly known as "charter schools" in other states) since 2010-2011. Community school enrollment declined from 2013-2014 to 2019-2020, and…

A new survey of approximately 1,500 parents or guardians of school-age children provides a snapshot of the current afterschool program landscape, documenting that while children and families who are able to access afterschool programs report high levels of satisfaction, for every child in an afterschool program, there are four more who are waiting…

In April 2020, Scholastic, together with YouGov, conducted a survey to explore aspirations, family attitudes and behaviors around reading in China. The key findings of this research, based on a nationally representative sample of 1,210 parents and children, including 509 parents of children aged 0-5; and 701 parents of children aged 6-17, are…

Head Start is a national program that helps young children from families with low incomes get ready to succeed in school. It does this by working to promote their early learning and health and their families' well-being. The Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) provides national information about Head Start programs and…

While data for the 2020 edition of America After 3PM were collected pre-pandemic, to accompany the data and determine how the pandemic has affected families' needs during the hours after school, the Afterschool Alliance commissioned a nationally representative follow-up survey of parents in October 2020. The follow-up survey found that afterschool…

Afterschool programs inspire kids to learn, help them make better decisions, and give parents peace of mind. Throughout the pandemic, 21st Century Community Learning Centers have kept kids engaged and learning and met the needs of families nationwide. But the demand for these programs far exceeds the supply. 21st Century Community Learning Centers…

Children develop fastest in their earliest years, and the skills and abilities they develop in those years lay the foundation for their future success. Similarly, early adverse experiences can contribute to poor social, emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and health outcomes both in early childhood and later life. Children who grow up in families…

The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP), the nation's first federal nutrition education program for low-income families and youths, remains at the forefront of providing nutrition education to improve the lives of historically underserved populations. EFNEP contributes to food and nutrition security as program families and youths…

While data for the 2020 edition of America After 3PM were collected pre-pandemic, to accompany the data and determine how the pandemic has affected families' needs during the hours after school, the Afterschool Alliance commissioned a nationally representative follow-up survey of parents in October 2020. The follow-up survey found that nearly half…

COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization and a public health emergency by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in March 2020 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2020). In the following months, families in the U.S. experienced financial hardships such as job and income loss, increasing food insecurity, and loss of…