This quantitative study aimed to examine the relationships between third grade reading instructional strategies in high-performing Title-One schools compared to low-performing Title-One schools in four school districts in South Carolina. The study was framed through the lens of Marzano's Theoretical Framework which outlined specific instructional…

Despite its non-elitist goals, there is growing concern over the potentially elitist nature of content and language integrated learning (CLIL) programmes in English. Previous European studies have reported more advantaged pupils' profiles in these programmes compared to regular programmes. It is unclear from the literature however which pupils…

A sample of 496 early childhood teachers was assigned randomly in two phases to a series of professional development (PD) interventions. Phase I intervention was a 14-week course on effective teacher-child interactions. Participants were then re-randomized into Phase II intervention, which consisted of individual, interactions-focused coaching.…

Students' academic motivation decreases in middle grades; specifications grading (SG) may be one way to boost students' motivation by offering greater agency. In this mixed-methods, quasi-experimental study, we compared SG with traditional grading methods among 69 low-income, 8th grade math students. Results indicate that students in SG classes…

Algebra 1 is a gatekeeper course with profound implications for students' academic and professional success. This study examines the implications of teaching Algebra 1 through a standardized, fully online, asynchronous course developed by one of the largest online course vendors in the United States in alignment with Common Core State Standards…

Harnessing a cluster randomized controlled trial, we estimated the impact on students' advanced placement (AP) examination performance of a project-based learning (PBL) approach to AP compared with a lecture-based AP approach. Through PBL, teachers primarily play a facilitator role, while students work on complex tasks organized around central…

Disparities in school discipline data indicate that children of color, particularly boys, receive more frequent and harsher disciplinary actions than their white peers, and this begins in early schooling. Within today's print-centered, bodily restricted school curricula, literacy instruction is often reduced to highly controlled, leveled readers…

Background/Context: There is a convergence of evidence that the quality of children's early care and education (ECE) experiences is critical for promoting children's development (Gormley, Phillips, & Gayer, 2008). Curriculum combined with professional development is thought to be the "strongest hope" for promoting quality (Weiland…

According to the Nation's Report Card (2015), American schools are suffering a double-digit academic gap between minority and non-minority students in reading proficiency scores and graduation rates. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of mediated reading (MR) across the curriculum on the achievement of at-risk low-SES minority…

Background: Preschool children who are at risk have been shown to demonstrate developmental delays in their fundamental motor skills. The body of research on motor skill development of children indicates that these children, when provided with motor skill instruction, significantly improved their locomotor and object control (OC) skill…

In a 2006 report, MDRC comparatively analyzed its evaluations of three comprehensive interventions -- Career Academies, First Things First, and Talent Development -- to identify strategies that address five critical challenges to reform: (1) creating a personalized and orderly learning environment; (2) assisting students who enter high school with…

Comprehension monitoring has received substantial attention as a reading comprehension strategy. However, comprehension monitoring is not limited to the reading context, but applies to the oral context for children's listening comprehension, which is a critical foundation for reading comprehension. Therefore, a systematic and explicit…

Comprehension monitoring has received substantial attention as a reading comprehension strategy. However, comprehension monitoring is not limited to the reading context, but applies to the oral context for children's listening comprehension, which is a critical foundation for reading comprehension. Therefore, a systematic and explicit…

Christopher Jencks is the Malcolm Wiener Professor of Social Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. Here he comments that Downey and Condron (2016) (DC) argue that the sociology of education suffers from a one-sided view of schools' contribution to inequality. He agrees that most sociologists who study what goes on inside schools tend to portray…

This is the Mackinac Center's fourth school report card and covers elementary and middle schools. A similar report card was published in 2013, and this edition includes two years' worth of new data. A unique characteristic of this report card is that takes into consideration the "context" of a school when assessing its performance.…