This qualitative study focused on peer support arrangements for students with ASD at the secondary level. The purpose of the study was to determine what impact a peer support arrangement has on both students with ASD and peer partners' academic attainment and perceptions of the intervention, as well as to better understand what supports peer…

This case study explored dog-assisted reading with three middle-school special education students in a self-contained alternative school. Data collection conducted over a 15-month period included observations, interviews, and artifacts. In this study, reading with therapy dogs and their handlers, helped three adolescent readers with their reading…

Utilizing a descriptive phenomenological design, this study examines the lived experiences of seven middle grade students, four females and three males, enrolled in a single-sex mathematics classroom within a coeducational school setting. The intent of the study is to understand, from students themselves, about the experience of single-sex…

This descriptive case study is a qualitative investigation into the perceptions of tenth grade students who experienced a ninth-grade transitional model high school academy within a large PreK-12 suburban school district. Specifically, this study provided the opportunity to examine the success of one Ninth Grade Academy, identify areas of concern…

Three students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who displayed off-task behavior participated in a two-phase study. In Phase 1, a functional behavioral assessment (FBA) was conducted for each student. In addition, an assessment of each student's ability to perform the replacement behavior identified that none of the participants was able to do…

To succeed in today's economy, students need both proficiency in the "three Rs" (reading, writing and arithmetic) and strong applied skills. Communication skills, team work, and critical thinking have long been at the top of employers' lists of applied skills they seek in employees. States are responding to employers' needs by putting in…

Despite increases in overall academic achievement, African American males continue to struggle in the area of mathematics. Data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) indicates that eighth grade African American males had the lowest levels of mathematics success of all subgroups in 2013, with only 13% performing at or above…

Expanded Learning Time (ELT) is seen as one promising approach for improving academic achievement, particularly in the nation's chronically low-performing schools. Since 1995, Citizen Schools (CS) has developed and supported the implementation of its own ELT model. The CS ELT model uses an additional shift of educators and community volunteers to…

In this paper we discuss how the products of student work during long-term, interdisciplinary curricular units at King Middle School, a grades 6-8 public school in Portland, Maine, through their aesthetic qualities, transformed people's understanding of what children were capable of. We argue that, to effectively understand student work of this…

The accelerated growth of 1:1 educational computing initiatives has challenged digital equity with a three-tiered, socioeconomic digital divide: (a) access, (b) higher order uses, and (c) user empowerment and personalization. As the access gap has been closing, the exponential increase of 1:1 devices threatens to widen the second and third digital…

Online education is unique in part for the relatively high degrees of autonomy afforded learners. Self-direction and self-regulation, along with support, are essential for students to succeed. The site of this action research project was a new, small online public charter school for middle and high school students, Foothills Academy Connected…

Two functionally-indicated choice-making interventions were implemented by a classroom teacher to determine the effects on the percentage of task completion, accuracy, and classroom disruption for 9 sixth through eighth grade participants with emotional and behavioral disorders in a residential math classroom using a reversal design. Results…

The purpose of this study was to measure the effects of Choice-Based Art Education on supporting the needs of all learners in an inclusive classroom, while building confidence, creativity, and critical thinking skills. Over a seven-week period, data was collected through photographs, pre- and post- surveys, interviews, pre- and post-creativity…

We use data from a randomized controlled trial of a middle school science intervention to explore the causal mechanisms by which the intervention produced previously documented gains in student achievement. Our study finds that implementation fidelity, operationalized as a measure of the frequency of implementation of the cognitive science…

This article reports on how design-based research methodology was used to guide a line of intervention research that developed, implemented, revised, and evaluated online learning science curricula for middle school students, including general education students and English language learners (primarily of Hispanic origin). The iterative,…