The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study was to determine if there were statistically significant differences between 3rd-, 4th-, and 5th-grade reading teachers in the Northeast Unites States, defined as participants and nonparticipants in the LETRS® professional development, in terms of teachers' self-efficacy in student…

This paper aims to explore the incorporation of embedding items within reading passages as an effort to improve assessment equity, student experience and performance, and engagement within a universal design framework. Reading comprehension items placed within text rather than at the end may remove measurement of confounding constructs such as…

Longitudinal models typically emphasize between-person predictors of change but ignore how growth varies "within" persons because each person contributes only one data point at each time. In contrast, modeling growth with multi-item assessments allows evaluation of how relative item performance may shift over time. While traditionally…

This article reports on an exploratory study on developing and adopting a 'Virtual Go Mode' feature embedded in a mobile vocabulary learning app, VocabGo, to enhance students' vocabulary learning engagement. Distinguished from other virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) applications, the Virtual Go Mode is designed for students to…

This dissertation is a mixed-methods study designed to examine relationships among the following constructs: teacher self-efficacy, teacher-student relationships, trust, student engagement, and student social capital. A conceptual framework was created in reference to the literature relating to each primary construct. Furthermore, six research…

This qualitative, descriptive, naturalistic study investigated literacy activities, instructional assistance, and pre-service teacher's learning engagement within a project-based learning program. The study lasted six months and totaled 100 minutes (about one and a half hours) a week for two credit hours in the fourth semester of the Early…

Engagement is important for learning. Because of their atypical expression, measuring engagement for students with multiple and severe disabilities (MSD) is challenging. Group activities often enhance engagement of children and gross motor activities include an expanded variety of behaviors by which engagement may be measured. The purpose of this…

The purpose of this collective case study was to examine how four elementary music teachers (from different U.S. regions) integrated modern band into their curricula. Data included semi-structured interviews, videos, emails, and a researcher journal. Teachers integrated modern band to improve student "buy-in" and to gain instruments. All…

This study explored student and teacher perspectives of technology use at Franklin Elementary School in South San Jose, CA, using qualitative, quantitative, and observational methods, including interviews, observations, and surveys. Thirteen teachers responded to a survey on educational technology use. Among this group, eleven provided interviews,…

Two of the goals of elementary school are to help students to develop a healthy sense of identity and learn social communication skills. However, there are many factors figure into students' experience during their early years of school. Othering by the other sex is one of these factors, especially in Saudi Arabia, which has just sex-desegregated…

A key question concerning educational researchers is how to promote students' self-regulated learning (SRL) in regular classrooms. We address this question by examining the beliefs and practices of a primary school teacher who supported students' SRL by employing an experiential learning approach. We gathered data throughout an 11 weeks long…

This yearlong study explores how digital technologies are used during literacy instruction in the critical year of third grade. We analyzed technology use in 16 classrooms across six geographically and socioeconomically diverse schools. We examined the multiple layers of technology's influences on teachers' instructional decision-making and on…

Over the past decade, mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have grown in popularity, which has spurred researchers and educators to apply MBIs within the school setting. Although studies have documented positive findings associated with the use of MBIs with youth, more research is needed evaluating current established mindfulness-based curricula…

Our qualitative case study aimed to identify how four second-grade emergent bilingual students and their teacher engaged with listening comprehension during interactive read-aloud discussions with more and less culturally relevant books, and how this intersected with the teacher's use of culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogical tenets. Data…

The purpose of this research was to examine the pedagogical practices that encourage students with severe disabilities' participation in an elementary physical education program through the lens of ableism. Focus group interviews were conducted with elementary students and semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight educators in the…