Do Washington state's targeted, public preschool programs help socially vulnerable students succeed in elementary school? In this study, we explore this question by examining the state's Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) and the Early Support for Infants and Toddlers (ESIT) program. Using statewide censuses of…

Foundational literacy is a crucial step in a child's development. The shift from "learning to read" to "reading to learn" marks a critical turning point, opening the door to all subsequent steps of their education. Yet in Egypt, nearly six in ten children are unable to read or write a simple story by the age of 10. This…

This report evaluates the effects of Lexia[TM] Core5[TM] Reading (Core5) -- a product of Lexia Learning Systems -- on the reading achievement of students in grades 3-5 during the 2021-2022 academic year. Core5 is a program that focuses on various student literacy skills, such as fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. This report represents the…

Integrating hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education with a focus on the engineering design process into elementary school curricula has been associated with positive outcomes, including enhanced student understanding and increased interest in the topics. Here, we evaluated third grade student interest and perceived…

Daily physical activity (PA) benefits children's and adolescents' overall health while reducing the likelihood of obesity. Elementary school physical education (PE) classes provide opportunities for children and adolescents not only to participate in PA but also to build the knowledge and skills needed to be physically active across their…

This paper presents the first results from draw-a-scientist tests (DASTs) over five years that were used to measure the effect of 8-10 week long astronomy clubs and week long summer camps on 3rd-5th grade elementary school students' perceptions of scientists. We facilitated these DASTs prior to these clubs or camps, which provide a baseline for a…

There are large gaps in reading skills by family income among school-aged children in the United States. Correlational evidence suggests that reading skills are strongly related to the amount of reading students do outside of school. Experimental evidence testing whether this relationship is causal is lacking. We report the results from a…

Super Star Chef is an experiential summer youth nutrition education and cooking program designed to enhance participants' nutrition knowledge, food preparation skills, cooking self-efficacy, and intention to eat more fruits and vegetables. In a program evaluation comprising a single-sample pretest-posttest design, participants' pretest and…

Purpose: This study examines the impact of the Amira Learning AI-powered reading platform on literacy outcomes for elementary students in 12 school districts in Louisiana during the 2023-24 school year. Methodology: Employing a quasi-experimental design aligned with the Every Student Succeeds Act Level II (Moderate Evidence) standard, a…

The COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented disruption in education across the United States. Prior to the pandemic, students in third grade struggled with low reading proficiency, a difficulty that predicts persistent academic struggles, school dropout, and even delinquency. Districts in South Carolina and around the United States adapted to the…

The purpose of this study was to investigate developmental music aptitude with a broader sample in order to propose national norms. Research questions were: 1) To what extent are published Primary Measures of Music Aptitude (PMMA) norms different from those established using a current sample? 2) Are there comparative differences in PMMA item…

This study evaluated the relationship among use defending behaviors, gender, and self-esteem among students trained in a brief, bystander bullying intervention (N = 93). Students were taught four specific strategies to use to defend targets of bullying. We used hierarchical regression analyses to test a moderator model in which we hypothesized…

This study explored the concordance between 70 third-grade students' preintervention and postintervention acceptability ratings of a writing intervention administered over 7 weeks. In addition, the association between students' preintervention and postintervention acceptability ratings and intervention effectiveness was examined. Results indicated…

A better understanding of factors influencing who receives disability support services through an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or a Section 504 Accommodation Plan from the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (504 plan) and when is needed. This study used administrative data from11,405 students enrolled in 121 Baltimore City Schools (51% male; 85%…

Twenty-first-century schools serve socio-culturally diverse students with varied abilities and motivations for learning (Learning First Alliance, 2001). Preparing students for life success requires a broad, balanced education that ensures their mastery of essential academic skills and prepares them to become responsible adults (Association for…