We investigated the promise of a novel approach to formative writing assessment at scale that involved an automated writing evaluation (AWE) system called MI Write. Specifically, we investigated elementary teachers' perceptions and implementation of MI Write and changes in students' writing performance in three genres from Fall to Spring…

Science and engineering practices (SEPs) and crosscutting concepts (CCs) constitute a significant part of "A Framework for K-12 Science Education" (NRC 2012). As teachers, the role of the authors is to highlight the pivotal role that both scientific knowledge and the practices used to generate knowledge play in learning. This article…

The general education classroom is filled with academic vocabulary, and individuals with developmental disabilities benefit from explicit vocabulary instruction (Browder et al., 2008; Marzano, 2020; Smith et al., 2013). Picture-based alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) can encourage academic skills development (Ahlgrim-Dehzel et al.,…

An increasing number of parents are opting-out their children from high-stakes. Accountability systems in education have used students' test scores to measure student learning, teacher effectiveness, and school district performance. Students who are opted-out of high-stakes tests are not being evaluated by the state tests, making their level of…

We used multivariate generalizability theory to examine the reliability of hand-scoring and automated essay scoring (AES) and to identify how these scoring methods could be used in conjunction to optimize writing assessment. Students (n = 113) included subsamples of struggling writers and non-struggling writers in Grades 3-5 drawn from a larger…

Selecting and implementing a new mathematics curriculum program that is both high quality and is supported by stakeholders is a challenging endeavor. In this article, the authors share a year-long process in which a school district's (SD) elementary mathematics committee (EMC) engaged in exploring, testing, and selecting a curriculum program to…

Large-scale learning assessments can be used to generate performance and contextual data on student learning outcomes. They can be national, regional, or international; school based or household based. The UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP-UNESCO) has conducted a qualitative study to explore both how and why learning…

Students with autism may struggle to develop the academic skills necessary for success in school and beyond. Understanding and improving academic skills performance requires appropriate measurement approaches. One such option that has been minimally studied with students with autism is curriculum-based measurement (CBM). Coinciding with the need…

Traditionally, content assessments have been carried out through written language. However, the latest standards in U.S. K-12 education expect all students, including English learners (ELs), to demonstrate their content learning using multiple modalities. This study examined the performance of fifth-grade students at varying levels of English…

This instrumental mixed methods case study investigated Grades 3-5 classroom teachers' perceptions of teaching for creativity and the effects of a researcher-developed, one-day, online professional development creativity module intervention within a suburban school district in south-central Pennsylvania. Creativity has been identified as a…

Machines have a long-demonstrated ability to find statistical relationships between qualities of texts and surface-level linguistic indicators of writing. More recently, unlocked by artificial intelligence, the potential of using machines to identify content-related writing trait criteria has been uncovered. This development is significant,…

Mathematical modeling plays an important role in improving students' interests and attitudes in reasoning, communicating and solving problems. In order to understand modeling in the popular mathematics textbooks for primary schools in China, this study developed a modeling framework for K-12 mathematics textbooks, and used content analysis method…

Engineering design is being increasingly included in elementary education, typically to provide students with opportunities to apply science and mathematics concepts while developing their engineering practices. An important question is how to prepare teachers who can help students develop more informed engineering practices during classroom…

The present qualitative action research study was conducted to gain further understanding of administrator and teacher perceptions about grading systems in elementary schools, administrators' and teachers' ability to ensure consistent and fair practices and any correlation that grades may have to students' social, emotional, and/or academic…

Digital Safety refers to the knowledge and skills needed for the intentional protection of users in the digital environment. With children having access to digital devices at a young age, it has become essential for them to be educated on how to be safe in the digital world. Through a week-long summer camp on digital safety, elementary-age…