The purpose of this action research project report was to increase engagement during independent reading for 32 fourth-grade students and 26 seventh-grade science students. At Site A, data was collected from August 27, 2012 through December 14, 2012. At Site B, data was collected from September 24, 2012 through December 14, 2012. Students'…

Recently, educational researchers and practitioners have turned to value-added models to evaluate teacher performance. Although value-added estimates depend on the assessment used to measure student achievement, the importance of outcome selection has received scant attention in the literature. Using data from a large, urban school district, I…

Most educational researchers have heard the adage, "If you want to measure change in performance, don't change the measure." At the same time, however, what students need to know and be able to do may change over time as research on teaching and learning provides new insights into the educational process, science and technology advance, and…

Elementary school is the critical stage during which the development of listening comprehension and oral abilities in language acquisition occur, especially with a foreign language. However, the current foreign language instructors often adopt one-way teaching, and the learning environment lacks any interactive instructional media with which to…

This qualitative case study reports on a three-year writing enrichment program among second, third, and fourth graders at a public urban elementary school in a medium-sized midwestern city. Designed as teacher research, the inquiry is a phenomenological examination of the experience of the workshop for its participants, including more than one…

This article reports findings from a study examining how altered readability levels affected struggling readers' (N = 288) comprehension of scientific concepts and vocabulary. Specifically, the researchers were interested in learning what effect altered readability levels have when low ability readers participate in a technology-based science…

PCI Education conducted a three-year longitudinal study to determine the comparative effectiveness of the "PCI Reading Program" ("PCI") for students with severe disabilities as implemented in Florida's Brevard Public Schools and Miami-Dade County Public Schools. The primary question addressed by the study is whether students…

This action research paper depicts the teacher-developed instructional strategies to enhance vocabulary instruction among school-age students in the public school setting. The selected population spans across three school districts and includes a third grade classroom, a fifth grade classroom, as well as a select fourth and fifth grade students…

This report contains resources to help researchers and policymakers review measures used in NCEE evaluations of educational interventions. The measures included in the Compendium are applicable to settings for preschool through grade 12. The Compendium discusses criteria and their importance in selecting measures for assessing intervention impacts…

This research described the retrospective formation of identity and manifestation of responsibility of four African-American female leaders who served as urban school principals. Cross (1971, 1991) determined that African-Americans undergo a four step process of identity development that he coined Nigrescence. Within these four stages of identity…

This article presents a framework for establishing inquiry as a foundation of a teacher education program to help prospective and practicing teachers view inquiry not as a project but as a stance. Cochran-Smith and Lytle (2009) assert that "working from an inquiry stance involves a continual process of making current arrangements problematic,…

During 3 field experience visits, 23 elementary preservice teachers implemented mathematical problem-solving tasks with grade 3-6 gifted students. Researchers investigated what the teachers learned about gifted students regarding student characteristics, mathematical problem-solving tasks, and pedagogy. Each teacher completed a pre- and…

This article presents a case study in which researcher-practitioner collaboration took place to promote effective use of technology in an urban elementary school mathematics classroom. Data were primarily gathered through classroom observations and interviews. The aim of this study was twofold. First, to increase our understanding of the effects…

The purpose of this study was to examine effective ways to integrate an interactive whiteboard, podcast, and digital storytelling for language proficiency development in English language learners. Researchers integrated these three technologies into a 60-hour intensive summer English program and investigated their impacts on student vocabulary…

Differences in reading comprehension were examined in students with disabilities after use of three reader modification types. Participants (n=10) conveniently selected from two school districts were students grades three through eight reading on a third grade level that received a reader as a modification in their Individualized Education…