School learning environments play important roles in students' lives. But when do these relationships form? Previous research on middle school students has identified a strong association between student socio-demographics, school characteristics, and achievement. Yet, few studies have investigated the origins of these associations. This study…

As teachers gain experience, their assessment knowledge base, personal beliefs, and the educational context come together to shape their identity as an assessor. This study sought to add to the body of research by highlighting and describing, through the lens of the teacher, how beliefs and context influence teachers' assessment literacy in…

This study is a language policy ethnography of the families of four Latina fifth-grade students at a TWBE elementary school as they transition to middle school. Parents and their children jointly acted as policy agents as they navigated the school district's open enrollment system and, through their choices, co-created policy. Situated within…

At the end of a two-year discussion about the value of homework in elementary school, the Seaview district decided to move away from the traditional model of homework, and introduced Wonder, Reading, and Play (WRaP) intended to be more equitable and authentic. A case study was conducted to assess the district's goals for and implementation of more…

Helping students engage with complex texts has been a longstanding challenge, though teachers have received little guidance about practices that help students in engaging with texts. This paper provides a range of empirical evidence about a tool designed to provide formative insight into text-focused teaching, which we used to reliably score more…

Latinx students now make up the largest share of charter school students nationally. In this article, I focus on Latinx charter school choosers in Houston, Texas, and ask what motivates Latinx parents to exit district schools. Drawing on interviews with 31 families, I find that perceptions of present and future risk motivate charter school choice.…

Students' instructional needs are identified, and proper interventions and instructional placement are put in place to maximize student-learning potential, but there is a gap in literature regarding the impact of classroom factors on student achievement of English learner (EL) students in diverse elementary schools (Heritage, Walqui, &…

Purpose: The Santa Ana Unified School District received an i3 grant (Investing in Innovation; funded by the U.S. Department of Education Grant number U411C160074) to build on their existing school climate practices. Called the Enhanced Positive School Climate Model, the aim is to improve school climate, student-adult relationships, create social…

The purpose of this quantitative simple linear regression study was to examine the degree to which the level of spirituality predicted the level of occupational stress among 105 middle school teachers. Specifically, this study examined the influence of spirituality, as measured by the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale on occupational stress as…

In teaching newcomer students, educators must envision how to provide opportunities for language use and development through age-appropriate content instruction. This article describes a design research study, in which we developed and piloted 5th grade science units and studied the participation of two newcomer students in sense-making…

Educators, researchers, and policy makers concerned about college under-enrollment among underserved groups of students have traditionally focused reform efforts at the high school level. Over the last several decades, however, there has been a growing interest in improving college readiness beginning at the elementary level. Recently, the…

The purpose of this study was to explore sustainability of social conditions and achievement outcomes in six full-service community schools (FSCSs) in two districts (Tulsa and Union Public Schools) associated with the Tulsa Area Community Schools Initiative (TACSI). Three questions guided the inquiry: How has TACSI changed over the last 9 years?…

Teachers play a critical role in establishing classroom and school environments that contribute to students' social and emotional development. This paper explores whether we can estimate a classroom-level measure of student growth in SEL by applying value-added models to students' [social-emotional learning] SEL. We analyze data from the 2016 and…

Background: Approximately one third of California school-age children are overweight or obese. Legislative approaches to assessing obesity have focused on school-based data collection. During 2010-2011, the Chula Vista Elementary School District conducted districtwide surveillance and state-mandated physical fitness testing (PFT) among fifth grade…

This report examines the frequency of particular teacher preparation experiences and explores their relationships to beginning teachers' effectiveness in improving student test scores once they get to the classroom. The report found both differences in how teachers prepare for their certification in the field and that certain experiences are…