The use of accommodations is often recommended to remove barriers to academic testing among English Learners (ELs). However, it is unclear whether accommodations are particularly effective at improving ELs' test scores. A growing foundation of empirical work has explored this topic. We conducted a meta-analysis that examined several possible…

Mass shootings in schools raise important questions about how best to keep individuals safe and increase survivability in such situations. One of the most common techniques used is lockdown drills, which train individuals to build time and space between them and the threat. Despite their use in 95% of public K-12 schools nationwide, their efficacy…

This annual publication of "The ABCs of School Choice" is a comprehensive, data-rich guide to every private school choice program in America. This edition of "The ABCs of School Choice" defines each of the four types of school choice: education savings accounts, vouchers, tax-credit scholarships and individual tax credits and…

In the spring of 2020, schools of all sectors across all nations were forced to close their doors as COVID-19 rippled through communities. Drawing upon the concept of liminality, which refers to a stage, state, or period of transition (Soderlund & Borg, 2017), this study investigated the intersections of the experience of liminality during the…

Rural students in Arizona enjoy far more education choice options than rural students in any other state. Education has flourished in rural areas under Arizona's robust choice environment just as much as in the remainder of the state. The data could not be clearer: Rural students with expanded opportunities thrive, as do their teachers and…

This study was designed to assess the effects of states' adoption of more rigorous standards as part of the current wave of standards-based reform on student achievement using comparative interrupted time series analyses based on state-level NAEP data from 1990 to 2017. Results show that the effects of adopting more rigorous standards on students'…

The purpose of this study was to characterize variations in how teachers enacted an approach to ambitious mathematics teaching: "rough draft math." We also examined teachers' motivations for their enactments. Thirty-two teachers from five states in the U.S.A. were recruited to participate in interviews based on recommendations from…

The voices of students of color often are left out of discussions of urban school reform conversations when they should be central to reform efforts. Jonathan Collins suggests looking at democratic reform as an avenue to bring those voices forward. Participatory budgeting, for example, introduces students to the idea that they could decide how…

Research extensively highlights the importance of social-emotional skills in learning and development. In this study, we evaluated whether social and emotional variables directly impact students' perceived cognitive competence and academic performance through a structural equation model. Survey responses (N = 29,384) were collected from 114 K-12…

Drawing from self-determination theory, the current study examined how teachers' satisfaction or frustration of psychological needs might be related to their job satisfaction, intention to leave, and flow experience during teaching (N = 143, K-12 teachers in the Midwestern U.S.). In support of the Dual Process Model, the current results revealed…

Because parental engagement has been shown to have a positive relationship with K-12 student academic achievement, the problem for this study was that though information and communication technology applications (ICT apps) are available to engage parents with teachers and schools, it was unclear whether parents are aware of and use them. The…

This study was designed to assess the effects of states' adoption of more rigorous standards as part of the current wave of standards-based reform on student achievement using comparative interrupted time series analyses based on state-level NAEP data from 1990 to 2017. Results show that the effects of adopting more rigorous standards on students'…

There is growing interest in student-centered learning as a model to better support individual learners. In recent years, state policymakers have pursued multiple approaches to implement this instructional model, but many leaders still experience policy barriers that affect progress. This Policy Brief offers an analysis of policy trends,…

The Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) is the most widely used norm-referenced creativity test used in gifted identification. Although commonly used for identifying talent, little is known about how creativity tests, like the TTCT-Figural, contribute to the probability of being identified as gifted especially with underrepresented…

The current study is located among the body of language teacher identity research by focusing on the identities of pre-service language teachers in Japan. This study looks at how pre-service language teacher identities are situated among Japanese values and belief systems and investigates how participants are coping with disrupted language teacher…