Concepts and practices are widely used to assess students' development in computational thinking (CT). However, less is known about how the development of each construct relates to that of the other. With a sample of 997 grade 6 students (average age = 11.43 at the beginning of the school year) from 14 primary schools, we examined the…

Science classroom assessment often requires multilingual learners to demonstrate ideas using only English-language resources. These assessments can provide an incomplete picture of students' knowledge and limit subsequent learning opportunities. Increasingly, science teachers are incorporating translanguaging pedagogies in their instructional…

The researcher explored the impact of a student voice initiative (SVI), the Student Ambassador Council (SAC), on the social-emotional competencies (SECs) of middle school, 5th-8th grades students. Drawing upon the principles of youth empowerment, more specifically Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR), and social-emotional learning (SEL), the…

Despite the ongoing debate in academic circles regarding the impact of the arts on individual and collective well-being, there is a paucity of empirical research in this area. Nevertheless, recent studies have begun to establish a significant correlation between arts engagement and a range of positive outcomes. The objective of this study is to…

Gender in physical education (PE) traditionally enacts discourses of hegemonic masculinities where girls are frequently positioned as the 'problem' regarding their disengagement. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experiences of mostly ethnic minority and low-socioeconomic status elementary school girls enrolled in an urban…

The study aims to determine the effects of learning activities based on learner autonomy on the English achievements, attitudes, and learner autonomy of 6th grade students by allowing students to choose activities to be conducted in English language teaching. The study was conducted on experimental and control groups. Research data were collected…

Based on Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000), this study tested whether changes in autonomous motivation toward physical education (AMPE) during the transition from elementary to secondary school can be predicted by changes in perceived need support from the physical education (PE) teacher and perceived physical school environment.…

For the past three years, SELF (Sports, Education, Life Skills, and Faith) has focused on improving academic, behavioral, and social skills of students at Key, Revere, and Meyerland middle schools in the Houston Independent School District (HISD). Tutorials, an essay contest, character-building lessons, sports, a high-school bridge program, and…

The SELF Foundation afterschool program involved 255 students at Key, Revere, and Meyerland (formerly Johnston) middle schools in tutorials and enrichment activities to support their academic, social, and emotional development. All students at SELF schools were allowed to participate in a character-building essay contest for prizes. Program impact…

The lack of academic success by American adolescents has been of grave concern for both researchers and practitioners for many decades. While many American adolescents struggle in school, some students are at a greater risk than their peers based on personal characteristics such as race, socioeconomic status, and motivation. The low levels of…

The SELF Foundation engaged 287 students at Key, Revere, and Welch middle schools in afterschool tutorials and enrichment activities to support their academic, social, and emotional development. Program impact was measured using reading and math performance, attendance, and disciplinary actions of SELF Foundation students compared to…

This article presents the results of the 2nd-year evaluation of an after-school program designed for an extended school day program serving African American middle school students in the city of Baltimore, Maryland (ACCESS-West). This study describes the effects of schoolwide reform especially as it relates to single-gender schools, educating…

During the 2013-2014 academic year, the S.E.L.F. Foundation engaged 32 predominately at-risk students at Key Middle School (KMS) in afterschool tutorials and enrichment activities to support their academic, social, and emotional development. Outcome measures consisted of reading and mathematics performance before and after program implementation.…

Temporal and spatial configurations that constitute learning and identity work across practices have been little explored in studies of science literacy development. Grounded in multi-sited ethnography, this paper explores diverse girls' engagement with and identity work in science locally, inside a newsletter activity in an afterschool programme…

In this article, Fairbanks, Crooks, and Ariail followed Esme Martinez, a Spanish-speaking Latina, from the sixth grade to the eleventh grade, focusing on her perspectives of schooling and her shifting identities related to home, school, friendships, and future. Drawing on the construct of artifacts, a sociohistorical concept that understands…