Research has proven that teachers have a fundamental influence on student results. Moreover, effective teacher professional development is one of the key mechanisms for improving student achievement. By the most recent OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) definition, "Professional development is defined as activities…

The study reviewed in this paper examined the effects of "mastery learning" and "student team learning" on the math achievement of high school students. The analysis included 588 ninth-grade students in 16 urban Philadelphia high schools. The study assessed the effectiveness of the different conditions after one year by…

Public education has options with regard to educational settings and structures. States and school districts may select varying lengths for the school year, lengths for the school day, and lengths for individual class periods. In Utah, one measure of students' achievement is scores on the State's end-of-level criterion-referenced test (CRT) for…

Because results from TIMSS 2007 showed a gap in mathematics and science achievement between students in the United States and those in the top-performing countries, TIMSS 2007 data were used to investigate how school effectiveness factors known to be strongly associated with higher STEM achievement operated in the United States compared to Chinese…

There has been a resurgence in research that investigates the efficacy of early investments as a means of reducing gaps in academic performance. However, the strongest evidence for these effects comes from experimental evaluations of small, highly enriched programs. We add to this literature by assessing the extent to which a large-scale public…

A review of the literature pertaining to the effect and influence that interim assessments have on student achievement lacks quantitative data to determine the efficiency of their use in the classroom as a school reform tool. This study examined the strength and the direction of the relationships between interim pre and posttest assessments in…

Early numeracy in kindergarten has proven to be a strong predictor of mathematical achievement. The aims of this study were to test the effectiveness of a remedial numeracy program for children who were low performing and to evaluate the role of visual and verbal working memory in the development of numeracy. The study included 196 kindergartners.…

Residential stability matters to a young person's educational development, and the present housing crisis has disrupted the residential stability of many families. This study uses latent growth-curve modeling to examine how changing residences affects math and reading achievement from third through eighth grade among a sample of urban elementary…

This study examines the construct validity of a new teacher interview designed to assess teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for preschool mathematics. PCK describes the subject matter knowledge a teacher needs for effective teaching. Data from 22 teachers and 113 Head Start children in a large midwestern city in the United States were…

A secondary data analysis was conducted using a large dataset from a study related to online professional development for eighth grade teachers of mathematics. Using this data, the paper provides a snapshot of the current state of teachers' knowledge related to proportional reasoning and functions. The paper also considers how teachers' knowledge…

This study investigated the connection between language (i.e., word comprehension, reading comprehension and spelling skills) and mathematical performance. The sample consisted of grade nine students (N = 810) in 14 lower secondary schools in the Swedish speaking areas of Finland. Standardized tests for reading and writing skills, and mathematical…

Asian children, including Chinese children, perform better than their English-speaking peers in cross-national mathematics studies. This superior Asian performance is attributed to several factors including cultural beliefs, educational systems and practices, and the Chinese number naming system. Given the limited empirical evidence on pre-school…

This quantitative study evaluated the effects of Supplemental Educational Services (SES), a federally mandated component of No Child Left Behind, on student achievement in reading and mathematics. SES provides free tutoring outside school to disadvantaged students who attend Title I schools that are in their third year of failing to achieve…

Background: Two distinct abilities, mathematical reasoning and arithmetic skill, might make separate and specific contributions to mathematical achievement. However, there is little evidence to inform theory and educational practice on this matter. Aims: The aims of this study were (1) to assess whether mathematical reasoning and arithmetic make…

This article examines the turnaround and closure rates of charter and district schools in 10 states to determine if one school sector has done comparatively better than the other at addressing chronically low-performing schools. Low-performing charter and district schools were identified in 2003-04 based on their reading and math proficiency rates…