The purpose of this quantitative, ex post facto study was to determine to what extent, if any, there were differences in ELA achievement and OSS percentages among schools with grades 3, 4, and 5 that used literacy station instruction (LSI) with students who had individualized education plans (IEP) and schools that did not use literacy station…

Teacher accountability and test scores currently drive many practices within the field of education. At the same time, student populations have become increasingly diverse, causing classroom teachers to feel pressured to teach to the test. Differentiated instruction has emerged as a best practice to help maximize learning for all students.…

This research study focused on the effects of departmentalization in the elementary school setting. Previous research on the topic of departmentalization in elementary school settings presented inconclusive results. The purpose of this study was to collect and analyze data from self-contained and departmentalized classrooms in fourth and fifth…

Digital citizenship has become an increasingly important topic and is not consistently defined amongst administrators, students, and teachers. There is also a lack of knowledge about the essential skills and knowledge to become a responsible digital citizen, making it difficult to identify how to help students become responsible digital citizens.…

The elementary and middle years give educators a profound opportunity to impact students' long-term outcomes: in this research, students with strong grades and attendance in elementary school were more likely to graduate high school and enroll in college than their peers. Although some Chicago Public Schools (CPS) elementary schools use CPS's…

The purpose of this research study was to investigate teacher perspectives of implementing standards-based grading in kindergarten through fifth grade in language arts and math in Southern Illinois. This mixed-methods explanatory research study examined the challenges teachers encountered when implementing standards-based grading, and the changes,…

Virtual Environment for Social Information Processing (VESIP™) is a web-based social information processing assessment developed for youth in grades 3-7. VESIP was developed to address: (1) the broader assessment of social information processing in a variety of socially challenging situations; and (2) the need for technically strong and scalable…

The COVID-19 pandemic began in the late months of 2019, and by the spring of 2020, to limit transmission of the virus, schools across the globe closed and transitioned to emergency online teaching. While the move to online teaching and learning was inevitable, many learners, especially in rural and remote areas, found that online schooling had…

The academic success and language proficiency in Arabic of bilingual Arabic learners (BAL) in immersion programs have been limited by a lack of effective policies and practices that address the Arabic population's inclusive and equitable educational environment. This qualitative case study aims to provide insight into how academic leaders can…

In March of 2020, in response to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state of Illinois mandated the transition to remote instruction for all schools. Although schools had the option to resume in-person instruction during the 2020-21 school year (SY21), the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) acknowledged that in-person instruction may not…

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020 was marked by a transition to remote learning in Illinois schools and nationwide. The following school year, schools and families faced difficult decisions about how and when to return to in-person learning. School leaders, parents and caregivers, and students considered how to balance…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between elementary instructional content minute allocations and academic growth. The study sought to explore the relationship between instructional content allocations, scheduling, and the use of content time on student achievement growth. Additionally, the study sought to uncover the…

This study investigated the perceptions of teachers of grades three, four, and five regarding differentiated instruction in conjunction with Standards-Based Report Card as aligned to the Common Core State Standards. The purpose of this study was specifically seeking teacher perceptions on how these phenomenon interact, as well as teacher to parent…

The purpose of this paper is to showcase new research that seeks to provide guidance on the heterogeneity of treatment effects by utilizing the variance of demographic differences in state assessments. This study is focused on a simple randomized block design where students are nested within schools, and within each school students are randomized…

Within the state selected for this study, teacher preparation programs and state certification criterion require that educators examine the relationship between school and society within social foundations of education (SFE) coursework. Using observations and interviews, this study examines to what extent four experienced, urban classroom teachers…