Requiring a failing student to repeat a grade is, of course, not a novel idea. The theory behind test-based promotion policies is that students who fail to demonstrate a sufficient understanding of their current grade's curriculum lack the prerequisite proficiency to fully engage in the following grade. This view recognizes the cumulative nature…

Out-of-school factors can significantly impact students' readiness to learn and thrive in school. Preventing dropout is a challenge because students fail to complete high school for a myriad of reasons that involve factors inside and outside of schools. This article describes City Connects, an intervention implemented in schools in Massachusetts,…

The Peer Enabled Restructured Classroom (PERC) is an instructional innovation developed to address gaps in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in urban high schools. The PERC model changes instruction from teacher led to peer led by bringing peer students into the classroom to lead small-group work. Our study sought to provide…

This paper explores the relationships among attitudes toward mathematics, teaching, and academic achievement in mathematics. Based on the contextual and social nature of academic self-concept, two complementary studies are discussed. The first study from the northeastern United States examined the relationships among these variables in 84 high…

The "Study of Deeper Learning: Opportunities and Outcomes," funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, is a "proof-of-concept" study to determine whether students attending high schools with a mature and at least moderately well-implemented approach to promoting "deeper learning" experience greater deeper…

Research finds that small high schools deliver better outcomes than large high schools for urban students. An important outstanding question is whether this better performance is gained at the expense of losses elsewhere: Does small school reform lift the whole district? We explore New York City's small high school reform in which hundreds of new…

In school districts across the nation, diverse student groups, including English Learners and students with disabilities, have been experiencing significant gains in reading performance after using READ 180. This compendium of READ 180 research contains results of 40 studies conducted in a variety of settings, in school districts across the…

A quasi-experimental research study was conducted that investigated the academic impact of utilizing Marzano's summarizing and note taking strategies on mathematic achievement. A sample of seventh graders from a middle school located on Long Island's North Shore was tested to determine whether significant differences existed in mathematic test…

Paul Jablon's "The Synergy of Inquiry" (2014) is well-timed. The 2014 deadline set by No Child Left Behind (NCLB, 2002) for universal student proficiency has come and gone, and according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, "proficiency rates last year were below 50 percent for nearly every racial and ethnic group, in…

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…

To help researchers understand potential issues one can encounter when conducting propensity matching studies in complex settings, this paper describes methodological complications faced when studying schools using deeper learning practices to improve college and career readiness. The study uses data from high schools located in six districts…

The "Study of Deeper Learning: Opportunities and Outcomes", funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, is a "proof-of-concept" study to determine whether students attending high schools with a mature and at least moderately well-implemented approach to promoting deeper learning experience greater deeper learning…

Relationships between United States History curriculum design, self-efficacy, and test achievement of eighth-grade students and parents in the KIPP:STAR College Preparatory Charter School were examined in this study. An online questionnaire developed for the study, the Parental Questionnaire for United States History Curriculum, was pilot tested,…

A quasi-experimental research study was conducted to investigate the performance of English learners (ELs) on mathematics assessments when using interactive whiteboard (IWB)-based instruction as compared to text-based instruction. A sample of 47 seventh-and eighth-grade EL students from ABC Middle School (name has been changed) was included in…

In this quasi-experimental study, the researcher investigated the effectiveness of three tactual strategies and one non-tactual strategy of content specific vocabulary acquisition. Flash cards, task cards, and learning wheels served as the tactual strategies, and vocabulary review sheets served as a non-tactual strategy. The sample (n = 85)…