This evaluation report describes program outcomes for students in APIE's Middle School Math and College Readiness Coaching Programs in the 2017-2018 school year. [For the executive summary, see ED626456.]

Near the first of every school year, the author has the opportunity to talk to her students about death, usually in the midst of their study of "Beowulf" or "Gilgamesh." Occasionally, the discussion results from the recent news of the death of a public figure or, closer to home, a family member. Regardless of the circumstance, her students learn…

The author had been assigned two sections of Contemporary Literature, a semester-long senior elective, and he wanted to do something new with poetry. He planned to teach Arthur Sze's "Quipu." Sze's poetry is nonlinear, adopting principles from science, anthropology, and history into a multilayered poetic texture--text unlike anything students…

Recent reform initiatives push for stronger curriculum mandates and greater teacher accountability. Such initiatives are leading to an increase in scripted curriculums within the secondary education classroom. What happens when teaching ideologies are at odds with such required curriculums? How do teachers maintain a balance when personal beliefs…

For most Anglophone countries, the history of grammar teaching over the past 50 years is one of contestation, debate and dissent: and 50 years on we are no closer to reaching a consensus about the role of grammar in the English/Language Arts curriculum. The debate has been described through the metaphor of battle and grammar wars (Kamler, 1995;…

With the emergence of the "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS"; NGSS Lead States 2013), it is apparent that teaching and learning about nature of science (NOS) continues to be an important goal of science education for all K-12 students. With this emphasis on NOS, early childhood teachers are asking how to design…

According to a recent report, by the year 2020, more than 50% of the U.S. public school population will be classified as persons of color; that is, students from African, African-American, American Indian, Latino, and Pacific Islander backgrounds (Aud, Fox, & KewalRamani, 2010). As a result of these changing demographics, it is essential for…

Approximately one quarter of American students attend rural schools; however, the needs of these students are often overlooked in education policy despite well-documented limited financial resources and pervasive poverty. Relatively little is known about the experiences of gifted students in rural areas and even less about the teachers serving…

In order for students to be successful in school, strong foundations are needed at the earliest grades. In a district in central Mississippi, many students entering public school from Head Start were not able to identify alphabet letters or produce letter sounds, based on results of the 2011 Standardized Test for the Assessment of Reading (STAR).…

This study sought to determine if there is a relationship between students' scores on the eighth-grade Indiana State Test of Education Progress Plus (ISTEP+) exam and success on Indiana's Algebra End-of-Course Assessment (ECA). Additionally, it sought to determine if algebra success could be significantly predicted by the achievement in one or…

Instructional materials are essential tools in the English language arts classroom. They allow students to interact with words, images, and ideas in ways that develop their abilities in multiple literacies such as reading, listening, viewing, thinking, speaking, writing, and technology. Because selection policies should reflect local interests and…

This quasi-experimental study was designed to test the impacts of a curriculum supplement, "Let's Know!", on the quantity and quality of language-focused comprehension instruction in pre-kindergarten to third grade classrooms. Sixty classrooms (12 per each of pre-K to grade 3) were enrolled in the study, with 40 teachers assigned to…

Like many 21st-century youth, students attending urban schools operate in a cultural milieu where social networking sites such as Facebook, Tumblr, and Instagram have become the lived environments where young people display information and ideas, establish camaraderie or feuds, and share conversations and perspectives from the imaginative to the…

The development of digital technology and the participatory culture it engenders presents challenges to secondary school English and drama teachers keen to expose their students to the pleasures and rewards of live theatre. Within Scardamalia's notion of the "knowledge building community" (Scardamalia & Bereiter, 1994, 2006;…

It makes sense that an emphasis on new ways of reading and writing fits easily within the Common Core umbrella. After all, a primary thrust of the new standards is college and career readiness. How can young people be prepared to thrive in today's society--in which people are connected 24 hours a day by media and coworkers may well live in…