This "ex post facto," causal-comparative quantitative study assessed the math and English language arts (ELA) 7th to 8th-grade academic growth among Black students enrolled in Philadelphia's black-operated public charter schools, non-black operated charter schools, and traditional public schools while controlling for 6th-grade exam…

Value-added assessment is designed to measure teacher contributions to student achievement in order to promote effective teaching (Battelle for Kids, 2011b; Darling-Hammond et al., 2012; Lee, 2011). When value-added assessment is used, research indicates that in some cases effective teaching is promoted, but in other cases it is not…

This study explored the degree of teachers' centrality in the classroom while developing digital literacies of their students and the pedagogical strategies which are employed by teachers in this process. We conducted a bottom-up analysis on 65 semi-structured interviews (n = 4372 statements) based on two conceptual frameworks: the Digital…

RAND researchers explore the messages teachers receive about what to teach and how to teach English language arts and mathematics in kindergarten through grade 12 schools in the United States, as well as teachers' overall perceptions of coherence and incoherence in instructional systems and how they navigate such systems. The authors conceive of…

Grounded within the tenets of culturally responsive education, this qualitative case study examined the culturally responsive instructional practices of teachers working with linguistically, ethnically, and culturally diverse students in sheltered English Language Arts (ELA) classrooms that mainly serve English language learners in an urban high…

Students with disabilities (SWD; e.g., learning disabilities) often struggle with slower processing speed and poor working memory skills, which reduce the quality of their notes. This study evaluated the effects of a note-taking intervention using the researcher-created smartpen strategy in conjunction with the assistive technology of the…

This article examines the need to implement practical methods for helping teacher candidates in English language arts develop effective dispositions. The author suggests that candidates compose proleptic autobiographies--a form of discourse that describes an envisioned future as if it has occurred in the past--as a way to articulate the…

In this study, language arts teachers in one middle school participated in ongoing professional development. As part of this professional development, participants engaged in face-to-face professional development sessions, observations/classroom walk-throughs and reflections. Researchers examined the participants' pre- and post- professional…

This piece summarizes one teacher's experiences during the abrupt move to digital learning due to COVID 19. This is not a full research study.

This article analyzes several online performances from the Black Lives Matter movement for the ways they utilize and blend standard academic literacies and African American rhetoric. These performances are discussed as pedagogies of possibility that meet and exceed the common core standards. This talk also points up the crucial roles that racial…

This tool was developed to assist school leaders in observing specific research-based practices during literacy instruction in grade 4-12 classrooms and students' independent use or application of those practices. The tool aims to help school leaders conduct brief and frequent walkthroughs throughout the school year. The tool consists of three…

Teaching grammar can be overwhelming and is often an overlooked part of effective instruction. "The Middle School Grammar Toolkit" to the rescue! Now in its second edition, this comprehensive guide makes grammar instruction fun and meaningful. You will learn how to: (1) Teach grammar in a practical and applicable way by presenting each…

A pretest-training-posttest design assessed whether training to improve spatial skills also improved mathematics performance in elementary-aged children. First grade students (mean age = 7 years, n = 134) and sixth grade students (mean age = 12 years, n = 124) completed training in 1 of 2 spatial skills-spatial visualization or form…

Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88), this quantitative study examines the impact of reading test scores as it relates to high school completion for American students with emotional behavioral disability characteristics. By analyzing the impact reading test scores have for this population, educational leaders…

This article describes a new and unique context for integrating STEM and literacy instruction--Novel Engineering. Oftentimes, STEM design challenges are focused on developing solutions to the big problems that humans face such as cleaning up oil spills or contrived situations in which children are tasked with building solutions to hypothetical…