The purpose of this study was to describe the relationships between financial literacy and financial capability rates of 18-24-year-olds and formal financial education in public K-12 schools. Though much has been studied about financial education, financial literacy, and financial capability, there are few clear answers about the relationships…

This causal-comparative study analyzed third grade reading scores from the National Center for Education Statistics, Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS) K-2011, by one of five school types, and four U.S. geographical regions. Forty-one of 50 states were represented. The problem studied is the unexplained elementary reading performance…

Many studies examine how bilinguals and monolinguals differ in their executive function abilities at one time-point or cross-sectionally. Fewer examine how these groups of children may differ over time. Using nationally representative data obtained from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-2011 (ECLS-K:2011), this…

Reading motivation is an important contributor to reading achievement. Students with higher levels of motivation tend to outperform those with lower levels. Reading motivation is a dynamic, situational, context-dependent trait that can vary in children over time and across tasks. Teachers have a valuable opportunity to support students' reading…

The Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) is a biennial survey required by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights since 1968. This survey measures factors that impact education equity and opportunity for students, including student access to courses, programs, resources, instructional and other staff -- and school climate factors.…

The overarching objective of the World Language Professional Life Survey (WLPLS) was to determine the K-20 World Language (WL) profession's familiarity with both the "World Readiness Standards for Learning Languages" (5 Cs) and with the Can-Do Statements (Can-Dos). The survey strove to identify how both sets of principles might…

The early elementary years are foundational for future academic achievement, and, as the number of Latino students in U.S. schools continues to rise, more attention has been given to the academic performance of these young learners. Yet little is known about the cognitive skills, such as executive function (EF), that may underlie Latinos' academic…

Spanking and parental verbal aggression are potentially toxic stressors that can negatively affect children's academic achievement by disrupting mental skills like executive function. Yet little empirical evidence has been provided for this mediating pathway. This study used data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Cohort of…

The purpose of this study was to estimate the longitudinal and reciprocal predictive relations between children's social skills, measured by an adaptation of the frequently used Social Skills Rating Scale, and their standardized academic achievement. A large nationally representative sample of elementary school students were assessed at least…

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…

Over the past two decades, U.S. states have widely adopted early literacy policies. These policies have shown short-term success in enhancing K-3 literacy skills. However, the reasons behind their widespread adoption and the factors driving their success are poorly understood. This three-paper dissertation focuses on Michigan's Read by Grade Three…

Preschoolers demonstrate rapid growth in motor, cognitive, and socioemotional (SE) skills. The "Early Childhood Longitude Study--Birth Cohort" was used to investigate the discrepancy in fine motor, gross motor, cognitive, and SE skills between children with and without disabilities. Findings indicated that, compared with typically…

Authenticity is an important element in the newer models of teaching, evaluation and assessment. Due to the fact that it is quite unclear how authentic evaluation and assessment should be implemented into practice, teachers still cling too much to traditional forms of knowledge evaluation and assessment. First, some basic theoretical facts on…

Research Findings: The present study examined patterns of executive function (EF) development among socio-demographically diverse children in kindergarten, first grade, and second grade. Using nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Cohort: 2011, we estimated children's growth in working memory and…

This study utilized a quantitative research approach with a survey design to determine whether a sample of K-8 principals in the state of Illinois, that rated teachers in a set of classroom instructional videos, exhibited inter-rater reliability since they all received the Illinois state-approved training and certification for teacher evaluators.…