Peer-led small-group learning has been used quite extensively in the US to enhance performance and retention of undergraduate students in science, math, and engineering classes. This study presents the results from an evaluation of a peer-led small-group programme at a research university in the US over a 10-year period across five disciplines…

In the United States, less than half of the students who enter into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduate curricula as freshmen will actually graduate with a STEM degree. There is even greater disparity in the national STEM graduation rates of students from underrepresented groups with approximately three-fourths…

The 6-yr degree-completion rate of undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors at U.S. colleges and universities is less than 40%. Persistence among women and underrepresented minorities (URMs), including African-American, Latino/a, Native American, and Pacific Islander students, is even more troubling, as these…

Previous research has linked inquiry-based science instruction (i.e., science instruction that engages students in doing science rather than just learning about science) with greater gains in student learning than text-book based methods (Vanosdall, Klentschy, Hedges & Weisbaum, 2007; Banilower, 2007; Ferguson 2009; Bredderman, 1983;…

We conducted a randomized field trial to test an academic vocabulary intervention designed to bolster the language and literacy skills of linguistically diverse sixth-grade students (N = 2,082; n = 1,469 from a home where English is not the primary language), many demonstrating low achievement, enrolled in 14 urban middle schools. The 20-week…

This paper investigates the differences in academic achievement trajectories from elementary through middle school among English Learner students in four different instructional programs: English Immersion, Transitional Bilingual, Developmental Bilingual, and Dual Immersion programs. Comparing students with the same parental preferences but who…

The purpose of this study was to test the efficacy of learning communities for underprepared first-year students. The topic was examined by synthesizing data collected on a cohort of first-year college students participating in a "developmental" (special admittance) program. A quasi-experimental design evaluated the effectiveness of…

This is the final report of the National Evaluation of Student Support Services (SSS). SSS is one of eight federally funded grant programs that are administered as part of the Federal TRIO Programs within the U.S. Department of Education (ED). The SSS program, in particular, focuses on students while they are enrolled in college. In general, SSS…

To increase the rate at which adult basic skills students advance to and succeed in college-level occupational programs, the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) developed the Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training, or I-BEST. In the I-BEST model, a basic skills instructor and an occupational instructor team…

The authors examined a model of instruction for English-language learners (ELLs) who were learning academic English while they tried to meet content standards required by the nation's education reform movement. In previous work (J. Echevarria, M. E. Vogt, & D. Short, 2000), the authors developed and validated a model of instruction (Sheltered…