California's Commission on Teacher Credentialing (Commission) requires all programs of preliminary multiple and single subject teacher preparation to use a Commission-approved Teaching Performance Assessment (TPA) as one of the program completion requirements for prospective teacher candidates. Three TPA models were approved by the Commission: (1)…

Purpose: Researchers have developed a constellation model of decodingrelated reading disabilities (RD) to improve the RD risk determination. The model's hallmark is its inclusion of various RD indicators to determine RD risk. Classification methods such as logistic regression (LR) might be one way to determine RD risk within the constellation…

The Florida College and Career Readiness Initiative (FCCRI) was a statewide policy requiring college readiness testing and participation in college readiness courses for high school students. We used regression discontinuity to compare outcomes for students scoring just above and below test score cutoffs for assignment to FCCRI. We also examined…

The Florida College and Career Readiness Initiative (FCCRI) was a statewide policy requiring college readiness testing and participation in college readiness courses for high school students. We used regression discontinuity to compare outcomes for students scoring just above and below test score cutoffs for assignment to FCCRI. We also examined…

Schools must help all students achieve. Leaders who understand the elements of culture and their impact on an organization can be very effective. In 2015, as part of a strategy to cultivate healthy school cultures, the State of Michigan deployed a new self-reporting school culture inventory as part of each school's annual reporting. In this…

The following study examined the question of student achievement in online charter schools and how the achievement scores of students at online charter schools compare to achievement scores of students at traditional schools. Arizona has seen explosive growth in charter schools and online charter schools. A study comparing how these two types of…

This study examined the high schools' state tests performances in mathematics, reading, and science of an open-enrollment STEM-focused charter school system,Harmony Public Schools(HPS), between 2010 and 2013, and compared them with the performance of matched traditional public schools (TPS) in Texas. After propensity score matching, 12 HPS schools…

Many math students, both EL and non-EL, struggle to reach the level of proficiency on California state tests which is required since the passage of NCLB in 2002 (California Department of Education, 2012). In California only 34% of students scored at the level of proficiency or above in 2011 (National Assessment for Educational Progress, 2012). The…

The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study was to evaluate the long-term effects of Florida's Third-Grade Retention policy on low performing students' subsequent academic performance as measured by FCAT reading scores. The study included a random stratified sample of 1500 retained third graders for failure to meet Florida's…

The purpose of this quantitative comparative descriptive study was to analyze the effect of an after school program on high school at-risk students' English/language arts and mathematics achievement on state standardized tests. This investigation examined the effects of out-of-school time support, specifically a nationwide after school program,…

As a result of the accountability requirements established in Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Educational Act (ESEA) legislation, English Learners (ELs) are expected to make progress in both content area academic achievement and English Language Proficiency (ELP). In Tennessee ELs progress is measured by administering WIDA-Access to…

The purpose of this study was to determine if a difference existed between student learning, using the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP), and Professional Learning Community (PLC) implementation within fifth-grade populations in the state of Missouri. The following research questions were utilized to drive the research: What is the difference in…

Research has suggested the "No Child Left Behind Act" passed in 2001 has resulted in narrowed curriculum and a failed attempt at its primary objective to close the achievement gap. Understanding changes that have occurred in student achievement from 2011 to 2014 of the NCLB requirements is the focus of this quantitative ex-post facto…

This study investigates the impact of a professional development program that included two distinct components: strategies for infusing student-talk into grade-level lessons in science and mathematics; and school-level learning communities focused on readings and discussions of student-talk research. This article reports the program's impact on…

Education reform efforts, including the current adoption of Common Core State Standards, have increased attention to teaching critical thinking skills to all students. This study investigated the critical thinking skills of fourth-grade students from a school district in Texas, including 45 identified gifted students and 163 general education…