Helping raise the Hispanic college graduation rate is an urgent goal, given the persistently high rate of poverty among Hispanic families, growth of the Hispanic population to account for one in five college-age Americans, and mounting concerns about racial and economic inequality. The question is, how? One potential strategy involves helping high…

This study hypothesized that repeating a grade is one reason why Honduran primary students drop out of school but not the main reason. Using longitudinal data, we analyzed student enrollment patterns up until students left school. The results revealed that many students dropped out suddenly without having previously repeated a grade, although many…

Each edition of the IDRA Newsletter strives to provide many different perspectives on the issues in education topics discussed and to define its significance in the state and national dialogue. This issue focuses on Teaching Quality and includes: (1) Three Critical Areas of Professional Development for Teaching in 21st Century Classrooms (Paula…

Beginning at a local two-year college and then transferring to a four-year institution has been one of the most affordable ways for students to earn a bachelor's degree. Yet transfer pathways from two- to four-year institutions are often complex and confusing, and too many students who begin at a community college and aspire to earn a bachelor's…

This descriptive case study examined educators' perceptions of the effect of tiered instruction on the reading achievement of kindergarten students. The purpose was to explore and describe current cultural and structural conditions that support or inhibit effective school-level implementation of a Response to Intervention (RtI) model. This study…

Purpose: The purpose of the first study within this journal-ready dissertation was to determine the extent to which ethnicity/race-based differences were present in Texas community college completion rates specifically within workforce certificate programs. Regarding the second study, the purpose was to determine the extent to which gender…

In this paper, we analyse data from the University of Melbourne's Matriculation examinations around 1900. The analyses reveal that many schools cleverly developed and applied strategies so that their Matriculation results would appear to be more impressive than they really were. After "excellent" results had been achieved, the schools…

Purpose: The purpose of this journal-ready dissertation was to examine the extent to which differences were present in discipline consequence assignments by the ethnicity/race and economic status for Grade 6, 7, and 8 girls in Texas. In the first investigation, the degree to which discipline consequence assignments differed by the ethnicity/race…

Organic chemistry students struggle with reaction mechanisms and the electron-pushing formalism (EPF) used by practicing organic chemists. Faculty have identified an understanding of nucleophiles and electrophiles as one conceptual prerequisite to mastery of the EPF, but little is known about organic chemistry students' knowledge of nucleophiles…

Under the 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, states developed their own assessments and set their own proficiency standards to measure student achievement. This has resulted in a great deal of variation among the states, both in their proficiency standards and in their student assessments (NCES 2008-475).…

If our destination is improved student achievement, we cannot get there without valuing and effectively using data in education. Central to reaching this goal is building trust among all those who have a stake in education that individual student data, such as attendance, course taking, grades, and test scores, are being collected for meaningful…

This guide is designed to provide important resources and recommendations to support teacher implementation of digital learning. Digital learning is defined as "any instructional practice that effectively uses technology to strengthen a student's learning experience and encompasses a wide spectrum of tools and practices." This guide will…

This article explores how information visualization techniques can be applied to learning analytics data to help teachers and students deal with the abundance of learner traces. We also investigate how the affordances of large interactive surfaces can facilitate a collaborative sense-making environment for multiple students and teachers to explore…

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) programs are school-based preventive interventions that aim to improve children's social-emotional skills and behavioral development. Although meta-analytic research has shown that SEL programs can improve academic and behavioral outcomes in the short term, few studies have examined program effects on receipt of…

Phillip Henry is a semi-retired former U.K. Registrar and Secretary with almost 40 years' experience in higher education. He has been active in staff development in the United Kingdom (Association of University Administrators, Academic Registrars Council, and Association of Heads of University Administration), in the United States (AACRAO and a…