Language Arts is one of the most important subjects for students to learn. Encompassing reading, writing, and comprehension, skills learned through Language Arts instruction influence student ability to reach levels of academic achievement in all subjects. Additionally, Language Arts skills reach far past the classroom and into the workplace. In…

Many parents, educators, and policy makers see great potential for leveraging tools like laptop computers, tablets, and smartphones in the classrooms of the world. Under budget constraints and shared access to equipment for students and teachers, the impacts have been irregular but hint at greater possibilities in 1:1 student computing settings.…

Conducted at 10 schools in four communities, this study investigated relationships of young adolescents' reading motivation, reading preference, and reading engagement as influenced by their English Language Arts teachers' use of instructional strategies. Students in eight sixth grade (N = 196) and nine seventh grade (N = 218) classes completed a…

This study addressed whether prior successes with educational interventions grounded in the theory of successful intelligence could be replicated on a larger scale as the primary basis for instruction in language arts, mathematics, and science. A total of 7,702 4th-grade students in the United States, drawn from 223 elementary school classrooms in…

The population of U.S. schools has shifted dramatically in the past two decades to include many more linguistically and culturally diverse learners, while the teacher population has remained largely White and monolingual, with limited connections to immigrant communities. Among the many changes diverse learners have brought to U.S. schools is the…

This technical report provides detailed information regarding the technical, statistical, and measurement attributes of the New York State Testing Program (NYSTP) for the Grades 3-8 Common Core English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics 2015 Operational Tests. This report includes information about test content and test development, item (i.e.,…

This paper aims to investigate to what extent a bias in self-evaluation is an enduring characteristic among children, and whether there is a relationship between the trajectory of children's self-evaluation bias over a five-year period and their psychosocial adjustment. 462 children (200 boys) in Grade 3 (mean age=8.6 years old) or Grade 4 (mean…

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of online homework as one way to bridge the gap between how students live and the diverse ways they learn by focusing on the attitudes, academic achievement, and learning styles of sixth grade language arts students. Students in the treatment group completed online homework, while the control group…

This experimental study examined how the reading and writing development of sixth-grade L2 students was affected by syntactic enhancement. Visual-syntactic text formatting (VSTF) technology, which visualizes syntactic structures, was used to convert a textbook to the one with syntactic enhancement. The sample (n = 282), which was drawn from a…

The Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP) is a statewide initiative offering publicly-funded vouchers to enroll in local private schools to students in low-performing schools with family income no greater than 250 percent of the poverty line. Initially established in 2008 as a pilot program in New Orleans, the LSP was expanded statewide in 2012.…

Teaching young students to think critically has always been important, however, as the United States transitions to a national set of learning standards which emphasizes higher-order thinking, it becomes essential. In this quasi-experimental study we evaluate the effects of exposure to the Journeys and Destinations (J&D) unit from the William…

This study investigates the influence of Green School designation on students' achievement in state-mandated standardized tests. Data were gathered 3 years pre- and post-Green schools designation, from test pass rates in reading and mathematics for Grade 5 and Grade 8 students, and from mathematics, English language arts, and biology scores for…

Teacher preparation programs face great challenges in ensuring their graduates are prepared for the demands of today's classrooms. The authors explore how teacher accountability has evolved based upon federal legislation leading to adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Recognizing that future teachers will be held accountable for…

The purpose of this study was to examine the difference between students' scores in comprehension (English Language Arts) tests when they are led in Brain Gym® activities before class instruction and when they are taught using traditional teaching strategies. The sample for this study consisted of 11 males and 9 females. Data were collected by…

The consequences of less than proficient reading skills are well documented. In educational settings, as children progress through the grades, the expectation that they acquire content knowledge through reading continually increases. However, many children lack the proficient reading skills that would enable them to acquire content knowledge…