Numerous urban elementary schools have utilized reading intervention programs that provide remedial instruction to improve students' reading achievement levels. However, the success of these programs is contingent on the fidelity of implementation. Educators have long grappled with the best ways to support struggling readers, as they present with…

Budget constraints and difficulty raising taxes limit school districts from expanding education programming, even when research shows that additional expenditures would generate economic benefits that are greater than costs. Recently, coalitions of private investors, philanthropists, education practitioners, and government finance analysts have…

Project Linking Learning ("Link") was created to target the needs of gifted students in urban school districts with historically underserved populations. Project Linking Learning implemented a linking curriculum between in-class instruction and an afterschool enrichment program for selected students in second through fifth grade.…

There is compelling evidence for the role of social information processing (SIP) in aggressive behavior. However, less is known about factors that influence stability versus instability in patterns of SIP over time. Latent transition analysis was used to identify SIP patterns over one year and examine how community violence exposure, aggressive…

On 10 December 2007 the Akron City School Board--following the precedent set by many school systems across the United States and the world--instituted a policy of mandatory school uniforms for all students in grades K-8. The measure was met with mixed reviews. While many parents supported the measure, a small group of parents from a selective,…

Rates of problem behavior at urban elementary school playgrounds are of growing concern. The purpose of this study was to examine how the implementation of a recess intervention within the context of School-wide Positive Behavior Support (SwPBS), a systemwide, team-driven, data-based decision-making continuum of support, affected disruptive…

The impact of schools and students not meeting academic achievement standards affects the community and the nation's future workforce. This paper examines many of the factors influencing achievement with special attention given to the facts of teacher turnover in the schools. Teacher turnover and the sad state of the academic achievement of…

What constitutes effective reading instruction for urban and ethnically diverse learners has been the topic of a great deal of debate. Particularly, during this time of sweeping mandates and increased calls for accountability. The response from urban schools to The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) serves as the backdrop for this paper which will…

In this article, the author relates an incident at the elementary school in Maryland where she was teaching 3rd grade at the time. After the author finally managed to get her students to read--and enjoy it--the principal insisted they watch TV instead. Odd as the accusation was, it was made even odder by the fact that her students were reading…

Elementary education is that training which by common custom is deemed desirable and necessary for the duties and privileges of citizenship. It is usually made compulsory by law. Like all such definitions, the meaning of this statement becomes clear only through an examination of its interpretation as given in the curricula of the various school…