Presented at the national conference for the American Educational Research Association (AERA) in 2010. This presentation examines the relationship between academic self-beliefs and outcomes.

In 2006-07, seven Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) middle schools piloted Algebraic Thinking as an alternate approach to teaching middle school mathematics. Algebraic Thinking was developed to help students in grade 6 reach higher mathematics courses by combining the regular and advanced middle school mathematics courses into one…

In this article, we provide a description of a unique model of teaching and learning, developed at an urban professional development school. We focus on an intensive collaboration between members of a high school mathematics department and one university faculty member, who collaborated to raise student test scores and build solidarity as a team.…

It's a familiar refrain in American education: African-American children score lower on standardized tests, graduate high school at lower rates, and are considerably more likely to be suspended or expelled than the general population. Two recent reports, one from the Council of the Great City Schools and one from the American Institutes for…

The topic of alternative energy is not only relevant to a multitude of issues today, it is also an effective vehicle for developing instruction that applies across a variety of content disciplines and academic standards. Since many of the issues associated with alternative energy are open-ended, alternative energy also lends itself to…

The issue of gender differences in female math achievement, especially among highly able females has been studied by researchers over the last few decades. The Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT), the most widely used instrument in the screening of college applicants, continues to show large and consistent differences among high-ability students,…

This study's primary purpose was to examine the relative contribution of social-behavioral predictors to reading and math skills. The study expands on Duncan et al.'s (2007) work by using longitudinal methodology from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's Study of Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD) and the Early…

This case describes how Hannah, a new math specialist, strives to create a positive math culture in her elementary school. Along the way, she works to build relationships with the teachers and the school principal. The accompanying teaching notes facilitate analysis of the case from the perspective of professional relationships in schools.

Teacher compensation schemes are often criticized for lacking a performance-based component. Proponents of merit pay argue that linking teacher salaries to student achievement will incentivize teachers to focus on raising student achievement and stimulate innovation across the school system as a whole. In this paper, we utilize a policy experiment…

In the monograph The Math Teacher (following the Third International Scientific Colloquium Mathematics and Children in 2011), the term "teacher" designates a person who teaches mathematics, and the context of each article reveals whether this implies the teacher at a pre-school institution, a school or a university instructor. In…

While prior research has documented differences in the distribution of teacher characteristics across schools serving different student populations, few studies have examined how teacher sorting occurs within schools. Comparing teachers who teach in the same grade and school in a given year, the authors find less experienced, minority, and female…

This study applies a randomized controlled trial to examine the effects of supplemental instruction using two online mathematics curricula--DreamBox and Reasoning Mind. It is an independent evaluation intended to generate unbiased results that will help inform the ongoing development of a charter school network's hybrid instructional model, which…

Three main purposes provided the foundation for this study. The first purpose was to investigate academic achievement through analyses of data obtained through formal and informal assessments among kindergarten through eighth grade students who participated in a Head Start program, center-based care program, or home-based care prior to school…

The Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) has numerous programs and strategies to support students who are underachieving. Given the variety of support sources and the different ways in which WCPSS schools keep track of the type of support provided to students, it is often difficult at the district level to discern the full extent to which…

Through the "Strengthening Statewide College/Career Readiness Initiative" (SSCRI), Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) has collaborated with states on state policy goals and actions needed to improve high school students' academic readiness for postsecondary study and reduce the need for remedial work. SREB created and implemented…