This study examined the effect of attending Pre-K 4 SA on students' educational achievement in third and fourth grades. Pre-K 4 SA is a high-quality pre-kindergarten (pre-K) program in San Antonio that meets all quality standards defined by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER). The results showed that distance to Pre-K 4 SA…

The study examines the perspectives of using the Desmos calculator of Algebra I students' conceptual understanding and procedural fluency to write, graph, and solve linear equations in Algebra I STAAR. While the students have continuously used technology for mathematics assessment, emergent bilingual students in South Texas still need help passing…

This brief is organized into four (4) main sections. We first discuss the inadequacy, inefficacy, and bias of standardized, high-stakes assessments. These assessments do not deliver on promises made by proponents and that they, in fact, do long-term harm to teachers and students, with a disproportionate negative impact on communities of color. The…

Background or Context: With the implementation of three-dimensional science and high stakes testing, policymakers have bolstered science curriculum to include standards that engage students in scientific discourse while providing the needed guidelines for teaching science content. However, the field of science education has not been a policy focus…

Meeting standardized test benchmarks is a challenge for elementary school students in Texas. The problem is that some elementary schools do not meet the performance standards of the fourth-grade STAAR state test average. Problem-based learning is a model used in schools to initiate problem-solving skills with a hands-on approach to real-world…

Given the importance of math in today's society, it is critical that children who are at risk for math difficulty are identified early. We developed and validated a prekindergarten math subtest (i.e., CIRCLE Progress Monitoring [CPM] Math Subtest). This teacher-completed measure evaluates domains considered important for later math development.…

A longitudinal study of the effects of an early childhood mathematics intervention was conducted in 2 private elementary schools in a large city in central Texas. The study included 377 participants in prekindergarten through fifth grades. Explicit non-inverted number names were taught in English and Spanish to prekindergarten and kindergarten…

Bui, Craig, and Imberman assessed the impact of gifted and talented programs on student achievement using regression discontinuity and random assignment to gifted magnet schools. In both analyses, they found minimal impact of the gifted and talented programs on student achievement. This commentary addresses two concerns associated with the study.…

A special tabulation of individual student scores from the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) test allowed a ranking of Texas schools according to test score changes ("value added"). The rankings varied greatly by student subpopulation. That is, the vast majority of schools are much more effective with some kinds of students than…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a 2-year professional development model in math and science on the self-efficacy of the teacher and its effects on teacher practice and student outcomes. Further, this study sought to incorporate the instructional use of Inquiry-Based Learning methods of Problem-Based Learning, Japanese…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of an early numeracy preventative Tier 2 intervention on the mathematics performance of first-grade students with mathematics difficulties. Researchers used a pretest-posttest control group design with randomized assignment of 139 students to the Tier 2 treatment condition and 65 students to…

This report for school year 2013-2014 analyzes the effectiveness of AISD's SEL program considering program implementation and cohort. Examinations of program outcomes across cohort suggest the longer schools have participated in SEL, the more positive the outcome.

This paper is based on an online graduate program for middle school science and mathematics teachers in Texas titled Integration of Science, Mathematics and Reflective Teaching (iSMART). Launching the program for its first cohort in fall 2010, the authors attempted to answer the following two questions in this paper: (a) How do the members of the…

This article presents the processes and outcomes of a year of School-Wide Positive Behavior Support in a North Texas elementary school serving kindergarten through grade 3 students. Included is a description of a school treatment package that incorporated components such as facilitation of the teaming process, a lottery-type system of intermittent…

This case study examines José, a bilingual Latino fifth-grader, and his complex and dynamic engagements in "travesuras" (mischievous behaviors). José's "travesuras" served to disassociate him from being labeled a "schoolboy." This disassociation was evident in how José: (1) renounced "school-like" work and…