Communication in English can be a barrier for second language learners since English serves both as a content subject and also as the means of instruction in classrooms. The issue is compounded when speech-language pathologists (SLPs) provide services to students from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) homes who may be suspected of a…

The authors contest a politician's claim that the National Numeracy Strategy (NNS) in English primary schools has been an undisputed success with no contribution from educational researchers. First, the key role of researchers and research in the development of the NNS is outlined. Then there is a description of the Leverhulme Numeracy Research…

Since the Coleman Report (1966), educational researchers have tried to identify school properties that make a difference in student achievement and overcome the negative influence of low socioeconomic status. We theorized that academic optimism was a latent construct that enhanced student achievement and that enabling school structure provided a…

Japanese lesson study, in various adapted forms, is becoming increasingly significant in professional development of mathematics teachers in the USA. Our goal in the research reported in this paper was to investigate, in a three-tiered teaching experiment, the cycles of learning of two researchers, six teachers, and the students in three grade 4…

A major commitment of the National Research Center on Learning Disabilities (NRCLD) has been to work with school sites that are implementing RTI. The work with these schools began in November 2002 after the U.S. Department of Education requested that NRCLD identify, describe, and evaluate the implementation of responsiveness to intervention (RTI)…

This study examined the mathematics experiences of talented children in an impoverished rural school district located in a coal-mining area of Appalachia. Using interview methods, the researchers explored the children's ideas about the nature of mathematics, their perceptions of the mathematics instruction they received at school, and their…

Behavioral observation systems allow for a relatively objective way to record important academic, behavioral, and/or interactional processes. Not surprisingly, the majority of school-based observational methods have been designed for and evaluated within the classroom setting. Although this is understandable, the playground context during recess…

Some common complications that arise in collaborative research between school and university researchers, as well as some conditions for successful collaboration are described in this report. Difficulties possibly attributable to developmental levels of the researchers are discussed utilizing Kegan's (1982) theory of constructive developmentalism.…

In this article, I--a White, French-immersion teacher-researcher--engage in a reflective examination of my research and teaching practices involving African American students. My critical reflection of my research examines the instruments used in my comparative study of African American students' experiences in the French-immersion context and the…

This research study aimed to describe the experiences of Professional Development School teachers who were living an inquiry stance toward teaching. Throughout this study, "living an inquiry stance toward teaching" was used in an attempt to describe teacher inquiry as a way of being and knowing for these PDS teachers more than methods for a…

Education researchers and policymakers agree that teachers differ in terms of quality and that quality matters for student achievement. Despite prodigious amounts of research, however, debate still persists about the causal relationship between specific teacher credentials and student achievement. In this paper, we use a rich administrative data…

Many educators have suggested that teachers hold the authority, and thus the responsibility, for initiating the curricular and instructional changes made within their own classrooms. One implication of this suggestion is that teachers be reflective about their practice. Yet, reflection is a difficult process that requires critical thought,…

The purpose of this article is to suggest some ways in which researchers can make their work more useful to policymakers. Policy research is more than "applied" research. It is designed to answer questions about what "actions" will or will not be effective in dealing with the problem studied, not just to understand the antecedents or consequences…

How to involve families in the formal education of their children is a question researchers and educators have been trying to answer since the first bricks were laid for the nation's public education system. A solution must be found, for family involvement has been proven to be associated with a myriad of stellar outcomes, including greater…

The authors introduce readers to the research documenting racial and ethnic gaps in school readiness. They describe the key tests, including the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS), and several intelligence tests, and describe how they have been administered to several important national samples of…