Psychological factors such as grit and self-efficacy have been heralded as powerful predictors of performance. Their joint contribution to the prediction of early adolescents' school success has not been fully investigated, however. The purpose of this study was to examine U.S. elementary and middle school students' (N = 2,430) grit (assessed as…

Middle school is a critical time in students' learning of mathematics, something a Learning Management System (LMS) is designed to help parents support. What remains unknown is how parents use an LMS to monitor their children's progress in mathematics. This qualitative case study explored how parents from one midAtlantic middle school with 543…

Middle school is a critical time in students' learning of mathematics, something a Learning Management System (LMS) is designed to help parents support. What remains unknown is how parents use an LMS to monitor their children's progress in mathematics. This qualitative case study explored how parents from one midAtlantic middle school with 543…

As the population of English Learners (ELs) continues to rise in the United States, there is a need to investigate the efficacy of teachers who are assigned to instruct them. The purpose of this study was to examine the factors that contribute to teacher efficacy when mainstream elementary/middle school teachers instruct ELs while addressing the…

This article presents a theoretical conceptualization of mathematics homework as a social practice. Rather than considering homework as a task or an artifact, this approach frames homework in terms of the social contexts in which students participate and how students participate in those contexts. This perspective has long been suggested by…

Gifted learners in one rural middle school have shown signs of underachievement, with 31% failing one or more subject areas. Due to 100% of these students meeting all standards on the Criterion Reference Competency Test (CRCT), a disparity exists between their classroom achievement scores and standardized test scores. The purpose of this…

One of the biggest challenges that teachers of adolescents face is the necessity to motivate them. This article begins with an overview of motivational theories and then focuses on process theory and its application in the middle school and high school classrooms. An effective teacher can create motivation in students by forming relationships with…

Latinas/os, the largest and fastest growing minority ethnic group in the United States (impels research that focuses on the education of Latinas/os and the need to reduce the achievement gap that persists between Latinas/os and other groups. Such research has gained in popularity; however, it is still very limited. I use my teaching experience…