This case presented in this article involves a transgender middle school student-athlete (BPJ) and the West Virginia State Board of Education (WVSSAC). BPJ, who at the time was preparing to enter sixth grade at a new school, alleges that Defendants Burch, Stutler, the WVSSAC, and Attorney General Morrisey deprived her of equal protection under the…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the readability of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B procedural safeguard notices written in Spanish, as distributed by each of the 50 states in the United States and the District of Columbia. Results were compared with the 6th-8th grade document readability guideline…

Newsela contracted with LearnPlatform by Instructure (LearnPlatform), a third-party edtech research company, to examine the relationship between Newsela ELA usage and outcomes for students. LearnPlatform designed the study to satisfy Level II requirements (Moderate Evidence) according to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The study included…

Elementary students' literacy skills are decreasing nationwide ("The Nation's Report Card," 2019). This is concerning because as literacy skills slip, the literacy demands for American workers are steadily increasing (OECD, 2013). Unfortunately, adding to the situation is the fact that students' attitudes towards reading are worsening…

This applied dissertation was designed to determine the effectiveness of the Middle School Teacher Training Intervention on the application of culturally relevant instruction and classroom management instructions by teachers in a Title I middle school in the southeastern United States. This school lacked culturally relevant instruction and…

More than half of U.S. states have enacted policies to expand financial literacy education in schools with kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) with the goal of improving students' financial literacy skills. Although financial literacy education can be key to building long-term financial capabilities and well-being, more information is needed on…

RAND researchers conducted a study that aimed to fill the information gap on how to successfully implement a statewide financial education mandate by studying the implementation of Nevada's 2017 financial literacy education reform. The study focused on the reform enacted by the Nevada Legislature in 2017, Senate Bill 249, which required that…

This research study investigates the impact of the rapid transition from paper-based to online administration of the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) exams on student performance in a South Texas school district. The transition, mandated by House Bill 3261, presented Texas public schools with a tight timeline for adapting…

The purpose of this study is to determine if there was a difference in the level of student achievement among sixth-grade students who were eligible for entitlement services under Individuals Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) who received instruction using technology assisted techniques versus those who…

In 1967, Martin Luther King affirmed, "In elementary schools, Negroes lag one to three years behind Whites, and their segregated schools received substantially less money per student than do the White schools." (as cited in Startz, 2020, para. 1) Two years prior, the main intent of the ESEA of 1965, which also created Title I, had been…

The 2020-2021 school year presented unprecedented challenges for States and local educational agencies (LEAs) throughout the country because of the national pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). For successful recovery efforts, it is essential to examine the expectations for children with disabilities, English learners…

A respected principal finds himself caught in the middle of a complex legal conundrum when a student requests to bring a service animal to his public school where another student may be dangerously allergic to the animal. This case explores how accommodations per the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of…

Students classified as English learners (EL) are a protected class of students with core legal rights. There are clear opportunities to strengthen education policies and practices to improve opportunities and outcomes for EL-classified students. This dissertation is comprised of three studies examining key issues in EL education with the goal of…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the readability of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B procedural safeguard documents, as distributed by each of the 50 U.S. states. Results were compared to the 5th- to 6th-grade readability guideline for documents recommended by experts in health literacy and health…

Over the past 30 years, numerous policies have focused on closing the achievement gap in the United States. Despite this emphasis on mastery and proficiency, students continue to perform below expectations. We use standardized math test performance to explore whether schools have been able to eliminate the achievement gap across middle-level…