We examine whether and how teachers' major fields in college affect students' achievement, exploiting within-student variation across subfields in natural science (i.e. physics, chemistry, biology, and Earth science). Using middle-school students' data from the TIMSS and controlling for student-teacher fixed effects, we find that teachers improve…

We examine the dynamic nature of student-teacher match quality by studying the effect of having a teacher for more than one year. Using data from Tennessee and panel methods, we find that having a repeat teacher improves achievement and decreases absences, truancy, and suspensions. These results are robust to a range of tests for student and…

This study aimed to investigate the correlation between the emotional intelligence (EI) of K-12 school principals with student outcomes that included: student achievement, student growth, and student attendance. The participants in this student included principals form various schools in the state of Tennessee. The data from this mixed method…

This study examined the extent to which significant differences between caregivers/parents, general educators, and special educators for students with disabilities exist in student achievement, access and equity, organizational support, and quality of interaction. Support for students with disabilities has increased, as evidenced in recent…

The schooling disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic continue to reverberate across the K-12 educational system more than a year after schools closed for in-person instruction. In this study, we examined the aftermath of these disruptions by modeling student achievement trends prior to and during the pandemic, with particular focus on growth in…

Has the achievement of U.S. students improved over the past half century? Have gaps between racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups widened or narrowed? These and similar questions provoke near-constant conversation. But answers are uncertain, partly because research to date has yielded inconsistent findings. In this article, the authors bring…

Before COVID, 40 to 60 percent of students were showing signs of disengagement in learning, according to national surveys. The pandemic exacerbated students' disengagement, especially among the most vulnerable youth. Although researchers do not yet fully know the extent of disengagement during COVID and the long-term consequences of this…

Graduation rates and standardized test scores are common indicators to measure student academic achievement. These indicators have revealed a gap between two socioeconomic cohorts of students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Students attending high-poverty schools have lower academic performance than students attending low-poverty schools. As a…

The purpose of this paper is to examine principals' instructional actions in rural, high-poverty schools and the perceived impact on student achievement. For this qualitative case study, research questions were: What principals' instructional leadership practices are being demonstrated in rural, high-poverty schools based on the literature and…

Having good teachers in the classroom matters, and in recent years better data have helped researchers more accurately measure individual teachers' effects on their pupils. A novel RAND study goes further, finding that teachers' effectiveness (or lack thereof) ripples out beyond their own students and affects the educational experiences of their…

We collected data on parental involvement from 101 American Indian parents in the Southeastern United States with children enrolled in kindergarten-12th grade. We analyzed the data using Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients and multiple regression modeling. Findings suggested that parental involvement is related to student achievement.…

Since the passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, over 300 billion dollars have been funneled to schools through Title I funds. Qualifying school districts receive Title I funds to address disparities between disadvantaged students' academic achievement and their less impoverished peers. Substantial research has focused on…

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between principal attrition and academic factors in Georgia's high-needs rural schools. The research shows that principals have a significant impact on student outcomes, and principal attrition is a disruptive factor in schools. The findings from this study indicate a negative correlation…

This study investigates the associations between parental involvement and academic achievement across three criteria: school level (elementary and middle school), gender (male and female) and subject (mathematics and science). Additionally, it examines whether students' attitudes towards a subject and their academic aspirations mediate this…

The Improving Basic Programs effort in Title I, Part A (Title I) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA), is designed to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and achieve, at a minimum, proficiency…