Characteristics of the 100 Largest Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts in the United States: 2001-02

Disconnected Reform: The Proliferation of School Choice Options in U.S. School Districts

“…The National Center for Education Statistics reports that in 2002-2003, 1.4% of all public school students attended charter schools and by 2008-2009 that percentage more than doubled with 2.92% of students attending charter schools (Hoffman, Sable, Naum, & Gray, 2005;Keaton, 2010). In the 100 largest school districts, 13% of students attended magnet schools in 2008-2009 up from 8.1% in the 2006-2007 school year (Sable, Plotts, & Mitchell, 2010;Tang & Sable, 2009). The percent of parents reporting that their children attend public chosen schools (magnets, charters, interdistrict and intradistrict choice and residential choice) increased by 1% point between 2003 and 2007, going from 15% to 16% (Grady, Bielick, & Aud, 2010).…”

Ethnic Disparities in School‐Based Behavioral Health Service Use for Children With Psychiatric Disorders

“…Second, it is possible that African-American children who demonstrate externalizing behavior problems often associated with ADHD are more likely to be referred for in-school services by their teachers, as has been demonstrated in previous reports of disproportionalities in school-based referrals to special education and behavioral support services. 35,36 Whereas more accurate and refined diagnostic assessments and referrals to service for African-American children may be needed, 37 future research to determine what factors may explain higher in-school service use for African-American children with ADHD is needed. It also is possible that African-American children with ADHD use more intensive in-school behavioral health services to address their needs and more research is needed to understand if this is a factor.…”

“…First, the geographic generalizability of the results is limited to the areas with similar racial/ethnic diversity and behavioral health services for children with psychiatric disorders; however, the findings may be generalizable to the large, urban school districts that serve a disproportionately large number of minority children and children with special needs. 37 Second, the study was conducted using the Philadelphia behavioral health Medicaid claims data and does not take into account the potential role of other funding streams (the education system, private insurance, and out of pocket). Although these data are important for understanding 1 population of behavioral health users, additional research is needed to understand service use by different providers.…”

A National Snapshot of Local School Wellness Policies

“…Student enrollment was provided by the district or verified or obtained from the School Matters Web site 8 . Because 68% of students nationwide attend schools in the 100 largest districts, 9 and 57% of all public schools are in large or midsize cities and urban fringe areas, 9 targeted sampling to districts comprising the 66 largest urban school districts (members of the Council of Great City Schools) was conducted. Policies were obtained from 63 of those districts.…”