Many students across the US, specifically in Texas, struggle with writing on grade level. On the last National Assessment of Educational Progress (2012), 70% of eighth- and twelfth-grade students were not writing on grade level. On the 2021 State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) Writing, only 26% of the fourth grade students met…

This dissertation researched the scope of mathematics achievement disparities in the United States and how these disparities can be minimized through a self-efficacy lens. To answer pertinent research questions with data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2019 mathematics assessment in Grades 4, 8, and 12, gap analyses,…

Educational quality is a way to influence the future of the American economy (Hanushek, 1986). Large-scale assessments are designed to determine quality in education by measuring student achievement. A connection exists between the standards, teachers, and assessments that form a system of accountability within education. State and national…

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between virtual school size and student achievement in virtual schools in a southwestern state. Enrollment size and the following areas were studied in an attempt to determine student achievement: STAAR English Language Arts/Reading, STAAR Math, STAAR Science, and STAAR Social Studies…

This research provides an analysis of the relationship between a student's beliefs and mathematical behaviors over a seventeen-year period. Romina, the student of focus in this case study, was among the original participants in a longitudinal study which explored how students build mathematical ideas when working collaboratively on problem-solving…

Educational reform initiatives of the last decade have focused on the three R's: reading, writing, and arithmetic, with writing receiving the least attention in the research literature (National Commission on Writing, 2003). Studies of writing performance in United States schoolchildren indicate that many are writing only at basic levels. The…