Certain scientific conclusions are controversial, in that they are rejected by a substantial proportion of nonscientists despite an overwhelming scientific consensus. Science educators are motivated to help students understand the evidence behind the scientific consensus on these matters and to move students' views into alignment with those held…

The social justice issue of human sex trafficking is a global form of oppression that places men, women and children at risk for sexual exploitation. Although a body of research exists on the topics of human trafficking, literature specific to the mental health implications for counselors working with this population is limited. Counselors should…

Prior research has contributed to our understanding about the ways teachers communicate their expectations to students, how students perceive differential teacher behaviors, and their effect on students' own perceptions of ability and achievement. Despite more than half a century of this work, historically marginalized students continue to be…

Early adolescents, particularly from underrepresented or marginalized communities, may feel disconnected from school science leading to a lack of engagement. The lack of connection between their out of school experiences and school science may lead them to devalue science. This study examines interviews with 56 middle school students and 12…

This report highlights the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's 2015-2016 achievements and continuing efforts made toward maintaining a record of meeting requirements under Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), reorganizing their system of student and family supports, and improving outcomes for students…

Despite innovations in the screening and early identification of students who may benefit from school mental health services, many schools struggle to link screening to intervention decisions, particularly at the Tier 2 level. Universal complete mental health screening, which measures strengths along with risk factors, is a strength-based approach…

The experiences of children's play have a profound impact on all areas of their growth and development. Memories of play can be vivid and detailed. These memories often have a treasured place in our hearts and minds. Educators and parents have a special opportunity to ask themselves, "What kind of memories of play do I hope for the children…

The most common lay explanation for the racial gap in educational achievement in the US is the "oppositional culture hypothesis", which holds that Black students tend to undervalue education and stigmatize their high-achieving peers, accusing them of "acting White". Many believe that, insofar as this hypothesis is true, Black…

As a way to raise attainment, schools are encouraged to form ability groups across classes for particular subjects. There is limited evidence however about the relationship between setting and primary school children's characteristics and how teachers perceive them. The aim of this study was to investigate associations between set positioning for…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the main federal statute governing special education for children from birth through age 21. IDEA protects the rights of children with disabilities to a free appropriate public education (FAPE). It also supplements state and local funding to pay for some of the additional or excess costs of…

As the 2012 presidential election approaches, controversy grows over recent statewide legislative initiatives that impose stricter identification requirements on voters. These new voter identification laws--especially those that require voters to produce a government-issued photo ID--are the subject of intense debates. During 2011, seven states…

The study is focusing on the finding out the children's perceiving of animals from the view of look and fear. The additional aims were to find out the influence of gender and age on the perceiving of animals from the view of look and fear. The sample size was created by the 27 Czech kindergarten children from two kindergartens. The number of 5…

This dissertation examines two related questions. "How do mixed membership models work?" and "Can mixed membership be used to model how students use multiple strategies to solve problems?". Mixed membership models have been used in thousands of applications from text and image processing to genetic microarray analysis. Yet…

This dissertation identifies social skills as the central treatment concern for young children with Asperger's Syndrome (AS)/High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder (HFASD) in an educational setting (Attwood, 1998; Macintosh & Dissanayake, 2006; Rao, Beidel, & Murray, 2008; Sansosti, 2010; Sansosti, Powell-Smith, & Cowan, 2010).…

This study investigates how adolescents with autism use autobiography to negotiate and co-construct their identities. This creation of multimodal autobiographical works took place in an afterschool inquiry group. Using practitioner inquiry in an ethnographic tradition, I examine how the teens created these works in the contexts of the group and…