Because standardized tests in science are not given to PreK-3 students in Ohio, this report examined the longitudinal effects of learning from a teacher who had participated in the NURTURES professional development program. Specifically, it looked at the effects on students' mathematics and reading learning in grades 2-5 and science learning in…

Zearn Math is a popular software platform for K-8 mathematics learning, designed to enable all students to successfully access grade-level content. RAND researchers collaborated with Zearn, the product's developer, to design this evaluation. Then RAND conducted the study independently, randomly assigning 64 schools in an urban Texas district to…

California Community Colleges (CCC) is the largest and most diverse system of higher education in the United States. It serves 2.1 million students, 54% of whom are from historically racially marginalized communities in the United States (California Community College Chancellor's Offices, 2020). As with all higher education settings in this…

Today's hyper-partisan world makes civil discourse across differences seem almost impossible for many adults, let alone young people. U.S. public schools are tasked with educating our young people with the goal that they each can be productive members of society. High-school students participating in an intergroup dialogue on race as part of their…

In a flipped classroom, an increasingly popular pedagogical model, students view a video lecture at home and work on exercises with the instructor during class time. Advocates of the flipped classroom claim the practice not only improves student achievement but also ameliorates the achievement gap. We conduct a randomized controlled trial at West…

Billions of dollars are spent every year on teacher professional development (PD) programs (Fermanich, 2002; Odden et al., 2002; TNTP, 2015; U.S. Department of Education, 2014). The few rigorous evaluations of PD programs that have been done usually report a null effect on student achievement, leading many scholars to conclude that teacher PD…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the effectiveness of one specific freshman mathematics intervention program on improving students' mathematics knowledge and to examine student perceptions and attitudes towards mathematics. Students participating in the mathematics intervention program were assigned to two math classes each…

This study used a combination of surveys and drawing-based metrics to evaluate whether integration of art-based activities into EE camp programing could enhance environmental orientations of diverse youth ages 6-12 (n = 285) in Athens, GA, USA. Compared to a control group, art-based EE had a positive effect on children's eco-awareness and…

Although strides towards inclusivity and racial equality have been made in graduate education, many barriers to graduate education remain for racial/ethnic minorities. In response, we created Scholars Committed to Opportunities in Psychological Education (SCOPE), a mentor-based program for racial/ethnic minority undergraduates. 63 racial/ethnic…

Thousands of American schools shuttered their doors during the second half of the 2019-2020 school year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most schools that closed their physical campus switched to online learning to conclude the school year. Brick and mortar schools uninitiated to online learning were tasked with adapting teaching practices to a…

"Learning A-Z" contracted with Empirical Education to study the effectiveness of "Raz-Plus" in Milwaukee Public Schools during the 2016-17 school year. "Raz-Plus" is a literacy program that includes leveled books, skills practice, and digital activities and assessments. This study focused on 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade…

The education system is responsible for the choices and chances provided to the students it serves. Although racial disparities continue to impede some students' chance of success in education, service-learning in the classroom context may be the transformative strategy needed to make institutions of higher education the "great…

Over the past decade, the author and their colleagues have been carrying out research to try to better understand the factors that shape students' engagement with science, as well as their science and career aspirations. The ASPIRES/ASPIRES 2 studies have tracked a cohort of students in England from the age of 10 to 18, combining large-scale…

One important area of development for educators at all levels is teaching students from diverse backgrounds, which includes attention to the important role of social class. In this reflective essay, two teacher educators and four students (two graduate, two undergraduate) examine the aspects of a course on social class and schooling that they…

This study examined African American students' persistence rates in an adult basic education and literacy (AEL) program by juxtaposing teacher disposition that predicts student retention in an AEL program with an AEL Integrated Education and Training program (IET) as a predictor of student success. The Teacher Attribute Survey was administered to…