Four research studies of students and faculty engaged in fully online undergraduate courses are analyzed to generate best practices for teaching and learning online. These studies investigated the relationship of student background variables and online behaviors to student persistence and achievement in the online environment. Over 500 students…

This document presents the proceedings of 16th Annual Research Forum held June 15, 2011, at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Included herein are the following 25 action research papers: (1) The Effects of Prompted Math Journaling on Algebra 1 Students' Achievement and Attitudes (Heidi I. Arnold); (2) Group Work and Attitude…

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) "Special Education at a Glance," which includes a copy of the "Guide to Planning and Assessing School-Based Special Education Programs," provides in a single document, information about the special education population at each Montgomery County (Maryland public school, including…

This report summarizes preliminary and exploratory research conducted by the Council of the Great City Schools and the American Institutes for Research on urban school systems participating in the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The study is one of the first large-scale analyses…

There are fierce debates over the best way to prepare teachers. Some argue that easing entry into teaching is necessary to attract strong candidates, while others argue that investing in high quality teacher preparation is the most promising approach. Most agree, however, that we lack a strong research basis for understanding how to prepare…

This newsletter focuses on strategies middle grades schools are using to prepare more students for success in high school. This is part of a series of newsletters describing best practices for implementing the HSTW, MMGW and TCTW (High Schools That Work, Making Middle Grades Work, Technology Centers That Work) school improvement models. The series…

As part of the "District of Columbia School Choice Incentive Act of 2003" Congress mandated evaluation of this first federally funded, private school voucher program in the United States (now called the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP). This report presents findings from the evaluation on the impacts 2 years after families who…

Previous research (e.g., Woodward & Baxter, 1997) found that Standards-based mathematics teaching provides marginal or no benefits for low achievers, in contrast with positive effects for middle and high ability students. A randomized quasi-experiment in 52 Canadian schools found that low achieving grade 7 and 8 students who received support…

The goals of this study were to (a) examine differences between two age groups of adolescents with and without learning disabilities (LD) in their general and specific self-efficacy beliefs (in history and mathematics), their academic achievement (in history and mathematics), and their loneliness, effort, and hope; and (b) identify predictors of…

Since its inception, the United States has struggled with its responsibility for educating African American students. Its history of denial and discrimination in the education of Black children has created a national crisis in which academic difficulty and school failure is disproportionately high. In an effort to improve the education of African…

The aim of this study is to examine Finnish students' school engagement profiles in the light of the data collected in the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) in 2003. Even though Finnish students' cognitive achievement has proved excellent in various international assessments, their school engagement has not been flattering. The…

Background: The study investigated a small range of cognitive abilities, related to visual-spatial intelligence, in adolescents. This specific range of cognitive abilities was termed "graphic abilities" and defined as a range of abilities to visualise and think in three dimensions, originating in the domain of visual-spatial…

Researchers and evaluators have been attempting to document the impact of ubiquitous or 1:1 computing on students, teachers, schools, and communities. However, the most recent reviews of research on 1:1 computing initiatives reflect a dearth of rigorous studies and emphasize the need for well-designed, scientifically based research to measure the…

The purpose of this case study is to highlight the integral role that progress monitoring (PM) plays throughout any Response to Intervention (RTI) process. This example uses a three-level, responsiveness-to-intervention (RTI) method for identifying students with learning difficulties. Using a fictional first-grade classroom as the setting for…

This paper presents the assessment and item specifications for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2009 mathematics assessment. "Chapter Two" contains descriptions of the five major content areas of mathematics (Number Properties and Operations, Measurement, Geometry, Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability, and…