This mixed methods study combining a single-subject experimental design with an embedded case study focuses on the impact of a visual treatment on the handwritten and typed output of a struggling male writer during his 5th through 7th grades who has undergone a longitudinal remedial phase of two and a half years creating text-only material as well…

Fourteen students with mild, high incidence disabilities were participants in a study that evaluated the comparative effects of the direct instruction of two reading strategies. Students had a mean age of 12.5 years and were included within two seventh grade general education classrooms with support from a special education teacher. The…

Background: Since September 2000 Israeli children have been exposed to a large number of terrorist attacks. A universal, school-based intervention for dealing with the threat of terrorism as well as with terror-related symptoms, ERASE-Stress (ES), was evaluated in a male religious middle school in southern Israel. The program was administered by…

Learning strategies have been increasingly recognized as a useful tool to promote effective learning. In response to the lack of available learning strategies measures for middle school students, this study evaluated an instrument assessing cognitive, behavioral, and metacognitive strategy use among middle school students. The instrument, called…

This study uncovers the predictive relationship of middle school students' ability beliefs (self-efficacy and expectancy-related beliefs) and incentives (outcome expectancy, importance, interest, and usefulness) to intention, cardiovascular fitness, and teacher-rated effort in physical education. Participants (N = 252; 118 boys, 134 girls)…

In curriculum evaluation and development, the views of students are important--but often overlooked. We report findings from a small innovative project involving 60 male (M) and female (F) students in two successive age groups: UK National Curriculum Year Groups (NCYG) 8 and 9 (aged 12-13 years and 13-14 years, respectively). The project was…

This study examines the use of Internet online polling at a suburban junior high school as a means for decision makers to systematically acquire student perceptions about local conditions of learning. Federal and state mandates result in curricular, instructional, evaluative, and organizational changes that affect students' conditions of learning.…

Background: Social comparison research usually demonstrates that students will have higher self-evaluation in downward comparison but lower self-evaluation in upward comparison. However, the existence of this contrast effect may depend on people's self-construal. The contrast effect may exist only for people with independent self-construal. For…

This document offers a planning tool for grades 3-7 that can be used by regional comprehensive centers, other technical assistance centers, and state departments of education to plan professional development for teachers. It is based on the "National Mathematics Advisory Panel Report" which was published in 2008. The panel synthesized its final…

The Seattle Public Schools serve one of the most diverse student bodies in the nation. The school system's enrollment represents many racial and ethnic groups and includes students from around the world who come to Seattle speaking many languages and families who came to the city generations ago. The challenge facing Seattle and all other major…

Because of a shortage of physical exercise, concerns about adolescents have recently been raised in Taiwan. In educational environments where student exercise has been limited by scheduling constraints and the lack of physical exercise has become a vital problem, "learning while exercising" may be part of a possible solution. This study…

This study was an expanded replication of an earlier endeavor (Shermis, Burstein, & Bliss, 2004) to document the writing outcomes associated with automated essay scoring. The focus of the current study was on determining whether exposure to multiple writing prompts facilitated writing production variables (Essay Score, Essay Length, and Number…

The purpose of this research paper is to detail how reflective journal writing can be used to facilitate science students' curiosity and engagement in laboratory work. This study advocates reflective journal writing as an instructional tool and a student-created learning resource that can serve additional formative assessment purposes. The…

Educators and policymakers have debated in recent years how best to improve academic performance in the middle grades. In the absence of outcomes-based research about what works, school districts have reshuffled grade configurations, bolstered their focus on "academic rigor," and worked to ensure that students are engaged in school as…

The purpose of this study was to examine three seventh grade R180 teachers' perceptions regarding the local setting factors and role of the teacher impacting the program's implementation across the three middle schools. The conceptual framework guiding this study was derived from the Scholastic R180 Logic-of-Change Model, which depicts an…