To determine the effectiveness of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program--Education (SNAP-Ed) nutrition and physical activity programming in elementary schools, it is necessary to recruit socioeconomically similar comparison schools not receiving SNAP-Ed programming. We developed a flexible recruitment strategy to tailor our approach to each…

The purpose of this quantitative ex post facto study was to determine if, and to what extent, differences existed in pre-and-post math scores following the VMath intervention for Title I 6th, 7th, and 8th graders in the Southwestern United States. Three research questions guided this study: (1) is there a statistically significant difference in…

Multilingual learners (MLs) often struggle with science conceptual learning partly due to the abstractness of the concepts and the complexity of scientific texts. This study presents a case of a Virtual Reality (VR) enhanced science learning unit to support middle-school students' science conceptual learning. Using a transformative mixed methods…

Growing up in poverty increases youth risk for developing aggressive behavior problems which, in turn, are associated with a host of problematic outcomes, including school drop-out, substance use, mental health problems, and delinquency. In part, this may be due to exposure to adverse school contexts that create socialization influences supporting…

The purpose of this causal-comparative study is to examine the impact of Troops to Teachers (TTT) participants on student achievement by comparing the mean scores of Texas students in the eighth grade during the 2011-2012 academic year taught by TTT participants with the mean scores of all other Texas eighth grade students on each of four…

The short-term emphasis engendered by No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has focused research predominantly on unraveling the complexities and uncertainties in assessing short-term results, rather than developing methods and assessing results over the longer term. In this paper we focus on estimating long-term gains and address questions important to…

In 2009 the U.S. Department of Education announced the requirements and selection criteria for the monies attached to the Race to the Top Fund. The monies attached to this competition were awarded during phase one, phase two, and phase three. This casual comparative study examined the impact of the Race to the Top federal education competition on…

The No Child Left Behind Act (2001) increased the federal presence in the test-based accountability movement with its goal of all children meeting standard by 2014. To measure progress toward this goal, each state created a series of intermediate goals. Schools or districts that attained the goal for a given year in 9 different subgroups made…

According to an extensive review of the literature, effective instructional delivery and "classroom management" practices are critical factors to elevate student achievement (Shindler, Jones, Williams, Taylor, & Cadenas, 2012). The purpose of this study was to analyze a comparison of classroom management practices on student…

As the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law moves through the reauthorization process, it is important to understand the basic performance impacts of its central structure of accountability. In this paper, I examine the effects of failure to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) under NCLB on subsequent student math and reading performance at the school…

This quantitative and qualitative study sought to examine the factors that teachers in a poor socio-economic, high-minority, urban, inner-city school district determined were important when gauging their effectiveness in the classroom. The study focused on the selection of specific factors by approximately seventy-five teachers from seven of eight…

Differentiated instruction, standards-based curriculum, and end of course assessments (ECAs) are not mandated in most high schools across the United States. As such, classroom grades do not accurately reflect district report cards. In particular, grades at the study site, a suburban high school, do not show the specific standards and benchmarks…

Across the United States, student achievement is a concern. The local district under study is not meeting adequate yearly progress (AYP), a standard initiated by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which schools are expected to attain to avoid sanctions. The district's students are performing lower than state average on the state's standardized…

The study examined the effects of the federally funded Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) program on student performance on mandated standardized tests. The study focused on the mathematics and reading scores of Illinois public elementary and middle and junior high school students. The federal CSR program provided Illinois schools with an annual…

The Talent Search (TS) program is one of the federal TRIO programs, a group of eight outreach programs funded by the U.S. Department of Education that are designed to support and assist students from disadvantaged backgrounds to progress through the academic pipeline from middle school to attainment of a postbaccalaureate degree. (Contains 6…