In this article, we describe a researcher-practitioner partnership (RPP) that used a networked improvement community (NIC) approach to translate social-psychological interventions into educational practices to enhance student motivation and learning. Specifically, we highlight one of our first collaborative projects to develop and scale up an…

Male students are especially susceptible to becoming disgruntled with high school and leaving school early. A quantitative correlational research study was conducted to explore whether teacher support can predict school burnout among Christian high school males. One hundred twenty-six male students from four private, Christian high schools in…

School climate is one of the most significant factors in solidifying an effective learning environment. In today's complex educational system, leaders face daily challenges in the world of high stakes testing and state accreditation that force them to ensure that they have implemented reforms that will provide sustained improvement in student…

We present results of an evaluation of the first year of a multi-year comprehensive middle school reading program. Four public middle schools in rural Virginia with large populations of students with limited reading proficiency participated in a study to determine the reading program's impact. We evaluated 235 students with low reading achievement…

There is increasing expectation that schools should be able to use tablets for a range of instructional and assessment purposes. This article considers the comparability of student writing on tablets and laptops to ensure that writing assessment is conducted in a way that is fair to all students. Data were collected from a sample of 826 students…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the reliability and validity of using a motivation inventory with music students in upper-elementary, middle, and high school. We used the middle/high school version of the MUSIC Model of Academic Motivation Inventory to survey 93 students in the 5th to 12th grades in one school. Our analysis revealed…

We investigated students' perceptions related to psychological constructs in their science classes and the influence of these perceptions on their science identification and science career goals. Participants included 575 middle school students from two countries (334 students in the U.S. and 241 students in Iceland). Students completed a…

We conducted a self-study to learn more about how to support the first author's pre-service teachers (PSTs) during their field experiences in an introductory secondary mathematics methods course. The findings highlight how the PSTs' perceptions of the secondary students' mathematics ability was closely related to how they viewed the students'…

New Directions Alternative Education Center, Prince William County Public School's (PWCS) alternative high school, serves approximately 1000 students on a rolling-enrollment basis each year. The 2009-2010 school year marks the sixth year of operation for the center. The school program continues to develop and grow in exciting and "new…

The purpose of this study was to describe secondary teachers' formative assessment practices and to examine the relationship of these practices to student motivation. The sample included 3,242 students and 161 grade 6-12 teachers. Teachers and students completed self-report questionnaires that focused on both formative assessment and motivation…

In a graduate literacy course, the author as the teacher educator conceptualized "Visual Literacy" into the course. In-service and pre-service teachers from inner-city schools in Georgia and Virginia invited struggling writers to create graphic novels by envisioning life activities, using drawings, and invented spellings as well as…

This study examines the role of the college access intervention program College Bound as a means of building human capacity in underserved youth. The need to prepare underserved youth to remain competitive in a global economy gained momentum as a consequence of diminished national high school graduation rates and ineffective education public…

This newsletter focuses on strategies middle grades schools are using to prepare more students for success in high school. This is part of a series of newsletters describing best practices for implementing the HSTW, MMGW and TCTW (High Schools That Work, Making Middle Grades Work, Technology Centers That Work) school improvement models. The series…