The District of Columbia Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP) is a school voucher initiative targeted to disadvantaged students in the US Capital. Vouchers worth up to $7,500 annually are awarded by lottery to students with family incomes near or below the federal poverty line. Students can then use their voucher at any of 60 participating…

The purpose of this research is to explore the relationship between math achievement and student resiliency among high school seniors. Seniors from nine school districts in southeast Texas participated by answering a short demographic survey and the "Healthy Kids Resiliency Assessment" (Constantine & Benard, 2001). A total of 457…

In classrooms with limited instructional time and many resources, teachers must decide which resources positively affect student achievement. Power Videos (PV), produced by DCS, is one such product used at the 373 elementary campuses in the greater Dallas, Texas, area. This research examined the relationship between teachers' usage of the DCS…

There are three self-contained essays in this dissertation. In the first essay (Chapter 2 of the dissertation) I estimate various achievement models for math and reading using the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class (ECLS-K) dataset. An indicator for gifted program participation captures the impact of…

This study examined mathematics achievement of fourth and fifth grade students in Mississippi and principals' perceptions of inclusion. A sample of 462 students from eight separate elementary schools was selected for this study. Fifteen principals completed the Principal and Inclusion Survey regarding inclusion education. Eight of the 15…

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act provides support "to ensure that teachers have the necessary subject matter knowledge and teaching skills in the academic subjects that the teachers teach." Title II of the act allows funds to be used for "carrying out programs that establish, expand, or improve alternative routes for state…

The Maryland General Assembly enacted Maryland's charter school law in 2003. This current school year (2008-2009) marks the sixth year of Maryland's public charter school program. This paper presents the statistics representing the performance of Maryland's public charter schools for the school year 2008-2009.

Massachusetts policymakers recently expressed a desire to better understand Hispanic student achievement patterns in their state. Scores on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests have consistently revealed a gap in performance between Hispanic students and students from other subgroups, a gap corresponding to national…

The math achievement of third and fourth grade special education students has been identified as an area of concern within a public school located in a small rural town located on the east coast. The purpose of this action research study was to investigate whether or not the Touch Math strategy increased the math ability of third and fourth grade…

Council for American Private Education (CAPE) is a coalition of national associations serving private schools K-12. "Outlook" is published monthly by CAPE. This issue contains the following articles: (1) NAEP Math Results Raise Question: Are Reforms Working?; (2) CAPE Calls for Equity in Discretionary Grant Programs; (3) "Let Me…

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of parent involvement in relation to the influence on student achievement within a school community. In addition, this study worked towards gaining an understanding of the parent's role in the school community. Researching educational data may suggest that more parent involvement will have a…

This article evaluated the impact of a group counseling intervention on African-American students' achievement rates during the spring administration of high-stakes testing at a rural high school in Georgia. Eighty percent of eligible students who participated in the intervention received passing scores on the four sections tested during the…

This study investigated the comparative efficiency of Web-based instruction (WBI) and traditional teaching methods on preservice teachers' fraction knowledge. Students' knowledge of fractions was measured using a Fraction Knowledge Test. The test consisted of 32 items and was administered as pre- and posttests to a total of 42 preservice teachers…

Supplemental Instruction has a long history of effective use in third level education in the United States. However, there are few rigorously controlled studies in which the potentially confounding effects of student aptitude and experience and of "volunteer effects" have been controlled. Analysis of the effects of peer assisted learning…

Learning strategies and affective factors could have a profound impact on student standardized mathematics performance. This study investigated gender differences in affective factors, learning strategies, and preferred learning situations, and how these variables affect math achievement of 15 year olds in the United States and Hong Kong on the…