Inquiry-based out-of-school STEM learning environments, such as offerings from science centers, museums, and out-of-school laboratories, serve as an enrichment to classroom education in many countries. As there is an increasing number of such STEM learning environments in Germany and some other countries and a growing body of research worldwide,…

Students often experience social and psychological barriers to success in General Chemistry, which is a key gateway to many students' science pathways. Learning assistants (LAs) have the potential to reduce these barriers and to strengthen students' sense of belonging in General Chemistry and STEM more broadly. Here, we used a 17-item Likert scale…

The Next Generation Science Standards encourage students to develop the reasoning and practice skills of scientists. Rather than promoting rote memorization, teachers engage students with real-world phenomena and prompt students to think critically. ChemVLab+ is a series of freely available, online modules that require students to reason like…

This study explored whether initial skill moderated outcomes of Promoting Algebra Readiness, a Tier 2 sixth grade mathematics intervention targeting conceptual and procedural knowledge of fractions. The study analyzed data from a quasi-experimental pilot study in which at-risk students (n = 198) were assigned to the treatment or control condition…

Substantial research has documented that Pre-Kindergarten (Pre-K) programs have important benefits for the school readiness of young children, especially those from low-income backgrounds. Recent studies in this arena have taken advantage of the Regression Discontinuity (RD) design to evaluate the impacts of Pre-K, due to ethical and pragmatic…

"The Upstart Great Plains TASK Force: Taking All to Success in Kindergarten" was a five-year Education, Innovation and Research (EIR) expansion grant (U411A180001) funded through the US Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education. Four research studies were conducted during the grant period of 2018 to 2023: a…

This study explored whether initial skill moderated outcomes of Promoting Algebra Readiness, a Tier 2 sixth-grade mathematics intervention targeting conceptual and procedural knowledge of fractions. The study analyzed data from a quasi-experimental pilot study in which at-risk students (N = 198) from Oregon middle schools were assigned to the…

School based agricultural education (SBAE) teachers are required to have expertise in pedagogy and a complex array of agricultural content areas. This study integrated an experience with agricultural technical skills and pedagogical experimentation for preservice teachers in a teaching methods course. An integrated skills acquisition (ISA)…

First-year students at universities continue to experience adjustment challenges which are an indication of low academic buoyancy. Academic buoyancy is a student's ability to succeed amidst academic difficulties and setbacks in academic settings. This study examined the gender differences in academic buoyancy among first-year undergraduate…

The goal of the Maximize Program is to collaborate with educators to develop resources and procedures to facilitate teachers' use of equity-focused behavioral supports. In this study, we describe teachers' responses to the first iteration of the interactive Maximize Technology Platform. Ninety elementary school teachers from three schools were…

The transition to adulthood marks a major developmental milestone, and careful planning is required between students, families, and teachers in order to successfully set and achieve postschool goals. For students who are English learners and diagnosed with a disability, additional challenges may arise as they navigate barriers associated with…

This meta-analysis investigates the impact of the "Leader in Me" process on teachers' perceptions of their school climates and student behaviour. Twelve studies involving 198,176 students resulted in an overall effect size of d = 0.20. The effect sizes for student climate (d = 0.34) and student behaviour (d = 0.16) were determined…

Positioning theory has been used in research to understand how elementary student teachers are positioned while working with their mentor teacher. While this research has identified four general positions, there remains a lack of clarity about these positions, particularly in how they differ. This study explores three contrasting student…

Lee Pogonowski's legacy lives on through the work of her students. I have found my own expression of this legacy through the EcoSonic Playground Project (ESPP), a community engaged music education program that I created at University of Massachusetts Lowell. This paper discusses how Lee's work infuses the ESPP's curriculum and program design and…

This dissertation is composed of three articles analyzing the use of sensory rooms in schools to support student need as well as its use in other settings. Sensory rooms are rooms equipped with a variety of resources, strategies, and equipment to support an individual in de-escalation. They have been implemented in various settings including…