Providing instruction in multiple languages has the potential to simultaneously help both native English speakers and English learners to develop language proficiency. "Dual language programs" can help native English speakers develop proficiency in a second language and English learners develop proficiency in both their native language…

In this story collected and shared as part of the OurStoryBridge online short-form oral history project from the Tremonton City Library in Tremonton, Utah, Parry recalls learning Shoshone history and culture from stories that his grandmother, Mae Timbimboo, told him. Parry recounts his excitement in elementary school when he heard that Shoshone…

Providing instruction in multiple languages has the potential to simultaneously help both native English speakers and English learners to develop language proficiency. "Dual language programs" can help native English speakers develop proficiency in a second language and English learners develop proficiency in both their native language…

Automated writing evaluation (AWE) is a cutting-edge technology-based intervention designed to help teachers meet their challenges in writing classrooms and improve students' writing proficiency. The fast development of AWE systems, along with the encouragement of technology use in the U.S. K-12 education system by the Common Core State Standards…

Charter schools represent an increasingly important form of school choice in the United States. Charter schools are public schools, with a difference. Compared to traditional public schools, they are exempted from some of the state laws and regulations that govern traditional public schools. In this way, parents come to have a greater number of…

Introduction:Although image description has been identified as an accommodation for presentations conducted in the classroom, only a few U.S. states have approved it for use in high-stakes assessments. This study examined the use of audible image description as an assessment accommodation for students with visual and print disabilities by…

Utah has successfully implemented a variety of endeavors to ensure literacy for all students. Proficiency rates in language arts in Utah have improved in all grade levels since 2005. Emphasis has been placed on grades K-3 and early intervention for students at risk. Resources available to these students include optional extended-day kindergarten,…

The present study investigated Oral Reading Fluency and its ability to predict academic achievement in language arts and mathematics on 6,484 first through fourth grade students. Student, teacher, and school information from the 2006-2007 academic school year was collected from databases maintained by Salt Lake City School District. The…

This paper presents results of English Language Arts Criterion-Referenced Test (CRT) of third grade students for the year 2008-2009. In 2005, 77% of third-grade students who took the 3rd grade Language Arts CRT were proficient; in 2009, 80% of third-grade students were proficient. Third grade proficiency on the Language Arts Test has gradually…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among students' self-perception, attitudes toward school, study and organizational skills, achievement motivation, attributional style, gender, parental involvement and style, parental income and parental level of education, and students' academic performance or achievement. Using…

One of many reasons that keep Orem, Utah's residents firmly planted right where they are may have something to do with the superior schools--and teachers--in the Alpine School District. This article describes one such teacher, Toni Zundel Boyer. Boyer, a third grade teacher and literacy coach, developed her own reading and writing materials that…