At the request of the Superintendent of Schools in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), the Office of Shared Accountability (OSA) examined the enrollment and academic performance of students in Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) courses in schools implementing the Equal Opportunity Schools (EOS) initiative. The goal…

On the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessments, the attainment of performance level 4 is intended to indicate college readiness or being "on track" to college and career readiness. Students who achieve Level 4 should have a 0.75 probability of attaining at least a C in entry-level,…

This study reports findings from an exploration of the literacy practices of 10 high school science teachers. Based on observations of teachers' instruction, we report teachers' use of text, evidence-based vocabulary and comprehension practices, and grouping practices. Based on interviews with teachers, we also report teachers' perceptions…

As global average temperatures rise, there has been an increase in the frequency and magnitude of meteorological natural hazards. To survive in the world and thrive in the work place, students need to utilize educational skills (such as creative thinking, non-routine problem solving, collaboration and systems thinking) and become independent…

Student self-concept of math ability (SCMA) and math utility value shape course-taking patterns, achievement, and entree into mathematics-intensive college majors (Eccles & Wigfield, 2005). The development of SCMA and math utility value are embedded in social contexts (Marsh et al., 2005). School racial climate is a particularly important…

Flipped lesson planning, as popularized by Bergman & Sams (2012a), has been viewed by many as a revolutionary pedagogy, tailor-made for the twenty-first century classroom. Enthusiasm for flipped lesson planning has out-paced the collection of data that might determine its effectiveness. This paper presents the results of a study that compared…

This causal-comparative study examined the relationship between enrollment/non-enrollment in music programs of differing content or quality and mathematical achievement among 739 secondary (grades 8-12) students from four different Maryland counties. The students, both female and male, were divided into sample groups by their participation in a…