This policy brief describes the academic impact of the PLC at Work® process in Texas Model PLC Schools. By comparing student performance in designated schools to matched peers, the study finds that students in PLC schools experience meaningful gains in math and reading achievement--equivalent to two to four months of additional learning. Gains…

In an effort to increase completion rates, the University of Houston (UH) has implemented customized strategies to improve course performance. Course grades impact GPA, and the literature consistently shows a strong positive relationship between GPA and the likelihood of persistence and degree completion. In 2021, UH launched an initiative to…

Online ethnography is a research approach that adapts traditional ethnographic methods for studying communities that exist online. This case study reports on an online ethnography of Webheads in Action (WiA), an online community of English language teachers, founded in 2002. In this online ethnographic research, I examined how the Webheads…

This Case Study examines the experiences and views of primary school students regarding fee-charging private tutoring in Kazakhstan, the largest country in Central Asia. Private tutoring is commonly known as "shadow education" because it runs parallel to regular schooling and mostly follows its curriculum. It does not include…

Efficient and profitable business operations today rely on the use of advanced technologies. This is particularly evident in managing family farms in the competitive broiler chicken industry. Farmers raising broiler chickens from chick to optimum weight in five weeks require investments in and use of smart farming technologies employing the…

"Enhancing Smart Universities with Emotional Intelligence" investigates the successful blending of technology innovations and human beings' emotional intelligence within higher education institutions in the midst of digital transformation. Today's "smart" universities improve student experiences, expedite administrative…

Hiring quality teachers that best meet localized needs to provide students with authentic learning opportunities is crucial to both school and student success. Despite the clear importance of teacher hiring, especially in the current teacher labor market, a review of literature that synthesizes the entire body of teacher hiring literature has long…

This study examined students' growth in algebra readiness progress-monitoring measures for a group of U.S. middle school students with math learning difficulties within the context of Project STAIR, a federally funded initiative supporting teachers' use of data-based individualization. Participating teachers received professional development and…

Elementary school teachers struggle to collect and use reading progress data to make instructional decisions. Collecting and interpreting reading progress data when making instructional decisions allows districts to identify and support students who need early reading intervention and may protect districts from Free Appropriate Public Education…

This literature review outlines the evidence that underpins the development of a set of evidence-informed elaborations, or specific practices, that support student engagement and wellbeing across the 9 domains of the National School Improvement Tool (NSIT). These observable, measurable practices to support student engagement and wellbeing have…

This applied research methods report is a guide for state and local education agency policymakers and their analysts who are interested in studying teacher mobility and retention. This report is the second in a two-part set and builds on the foundational information in report 1. This report presents guidance on how to interpret differences in…

Collecting treatment integrity data is critical for (a) strengthening internal validity within a research study, (b) determining the impact of an intervention on student outcomes, and (c) assessing the need for implementation supports. Although researchers have noted the increased inclusion of treatment integrity data in published articles, there…

This research shares the challenges of bringing in real-world big business data into the classroom so students can experience how today's business decisions can improve with the strategic use of data analytics. Finding a true big data set that provides real world business transactions and operational data has been a challenge for academics…

Growing interest in Big Data is leading industries, academics and governments to accelerate Big Data research. However, how teachers should teach Big Data has not been fully examined. This article suggests criteria for redesigning Big Data syllabi in public and private degree-awarding higher education establishments. The author conducted a survey…

In this era of "Big Data," institutions of higher education are challenged to make the most of the information they have to improve student learning outcomes, close equity gaps, keep costs down, and address the economic needs of the communities they serve at the local, regional, and national levels. This book helps readers understand and…