The purpose of this study was to develop and gather validity evidence for silent reading fluency passages. A number of passages were written following a traditional story grammar structure (character, setting, events) and placed on a computer for students to read silently. We describe in detail, the manner in which content-related evidence was…

The purpose of this study was to document the instrument development of maze measures for grades 3-8. Each maze passage contained twelve omitted words that students filled in by choosing the best-fit word from among the provided options. In this technical report, we describe the process of creating, reviewing, and pilot testing the maze measures.…

Software that teaches users to sing in tune and in rhythm while providing real-time pitch tracking was used in a study of struggling middle school readers. The software, Carry-a-Tune (CAT) was originally developed to improve singing; however, since it involves a repeated reading format, we used it to determine its effect on comprehension and…

A paradigm conceptualizing resilience as factors moderating between political violence exposure and psychological distress administered in a 7-year research project yielded a profile of factors promoting Israeli children's coping in conflict conditions. Three factors--social support mobilization, self-efficacy, and meaning attribution--were…

In this study, the authors conducted a mixed analysis of student perceptions of their best high school teachers. The sample of 257 preservice teachers from a College of Education in California described their best high school teacher. From their descriptions, qualitative analysis through the method of constant comparison yielded eight themes:…

There is abundant evidence that schools with strong reading programs have successful students. But building strong reading skills is a complex task, particularly by the time students reach the middle grades. A survey was conducted that involved all Indiana middle grades schools in May 2009. Two types of data analysis were utilized in preparing the…

This study uses latent class analysis (LCA) to empirically identify victimization groups during middle school. Approximately 2,000 urban, public middle school students (mean age in sixth grade = 11.57) reported on their peer victimization during the Fall and Spring semesters of their sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. Independent LCA analyses at…

Eighty-one seventh- and eighth-grade students (age 12-14) learning English in Japanese classrooms were tested on their knowledge of English case-marked pronouns in sentences like "He likes her," *"He likes she" and *"Him likes her." The aim of the study was to evaluate the predictions of three theories of second…

Background: The prevalence of smoking among Chinese adolescents has dramatically increased in recent years. The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in smoking-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors among Chinese students in 3 types of secondary schools. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 3957 students of…

Since the passage of the first Charter School Law in Minnesota in 2001, there have been many studies that have examined the effect of Charter schools on student achievement with very mixed results. The Missouri legislature passed legislation in 1998 permitting the establishment of charter schools in a metropolitan school district or in an urban…

This study examined variation in friendship formation and friendship stability as a function of children's and their friends' victimization, overt aggression, and relational aggression. Participants were 605 pre- and early adolescents in fifth through eighth grades (M age = 12.05) assessed twice over a three-month period. Scores for stability and…

The present study used an ecological framework to examine the relationships among adolescents' perceptions of school climate, social competence, and behavioral and psychological adjustment in the middle school years. This study improved upon prior studies by using "structural equation modeling" to investigate the hypothesized mediating…

The high school transition was examined in an ethnically diverse, urban sample of 1,979 adolescents, followed from 7th to 10th grade (M[subscript age] = 14.6, SD = 0.37 in 7th grade). Twice annually, data were gathered on adolescents' perceptions of school climate, psychological functioning, and academic behaviors. Piecewise growth modeling…

Using Freudenthal's method of historical phenomenology, the history of statistics was investigated as a source of inspiration for instructional design. Based on systematically selected historical examples, hypotheses were formulated about how students could be supported in learning to reason with particular statistical concepts and graphs. Such a…

This article examines the ways in which discourse and social context lead to identity construction in relationships between Black and White students in a large (Grades 6-8) urban middle school. Looking at issues of cross-cultural communication through focus group discussions among Grade 8 students at this school provides an opportunity for the…