Purpose: The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine what correlation exists between a student's poverty coefficient and the daily number of minutes provided for independent reading and third grade reading achievement level as measured by California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) in small, rural school…

Language must be taught with academic vocabulary that is meaningful and that can be transferred between content and context. This comparative-descriptive research study examines how academic specific instruction increases students' learning of a second language acquisition (i.e., English). The conceptual framework of the study drew research…

This study utilized latent class analysis (LCA) to identify 5 discernible profiles of Latino children's (N = 1,253) social-emotional, physical, and cognitive school readiness at the time of kindergarten entry. In addition, a growth mixture modeling (GMM) approach was used to identify 3 unique literacy achievement trajectories, across Grades 2-5,…

It has long been argued that U.S. states' differential performance on nationwide assessments may reflect differences in students' opportunity to learn the tested content that is primarily due to variation in curricular content standards, rather than in instructional quality or educational investment. To quantify the effect of differences in…

Students' development of conceptual understandings is a central goal of mathematics education (CCSS-Mathematics, 2010). Such a challenging, yet ambiguous, goal cannot be achieved without empowering teachers with the knowledge and tools critical for their ability to adequately convey the content, and assess and interpret students' performance. This…

Oral reading fluency (ORF) has been widely used as a measure of students' overall reading competency. However, accuracy, or words correct per minute (wcpm), derived from ORF testing may not reveal all aspects of a student's reading abilities. The present study investigated the oral reading miscue patterns of students with and without learning…

This study examined the effects of using the Model-Strategy-Application with Reasoning Approach (MSAR) in teaching and learning mathematics in linguistically and culturally diverse elementary classrooms. Through learning mathematics via the MSAR, students from different language ability groups gained an understanding of mathematics from creating…

Two professional development (PD) models for teachers were compared on teacher and student outcomes. Special education teachers participated in Literacy Learning Cohorts (LLC), a PD innovation designed to improve content and pedagogical knowledge for providing reading instruction to upper elementary students with learning disabilities. The LLC,…

Oral reading fluency is frequently used in school settings to assess student reading skills, but it is somewhat commonly believed that some students can read words fluently while not comprehending (i.e., word callers). Previous studies examining the prevalence of word callers typically included native English speakers rather than English learners…

Young monolingual children typically demonstrate frequent tense shifting during narrative development, whereas older children maintain a consistent narration tense. Therefore, inconsistent tense usage in older children could be an indication of overall limited language skills. However, information regarding tense use in bilinguals has been…

The introduction of the Internet and its hyperlinked content made easily accessible with portable digital devices like smart phones and tablets, posed challenges to the traditional linear and print-oriented notions of what it means to read and write. Now that these traditional notions of read and write literacy have been breached by these…

The MIND Research Institute contracted with the Evaluation Research Program at WestEd to conduct an independent assessment of mathematics outcomes in elementary school grades across California that were provided with the ST Math program. Spatial-Temporal (ST) Math is a game-based instructional software designed to boost K-5 and secondary-level…

This study uses an existing evaluation model and previously established measurement tools to evaluate the quality and success of Urban Compass, a private non-profit after-school program for elementary school children in the Watts district of Los Angeles. This evaluation had two major objectives. The first objective was to assess program quality by…

Bullying prevention efforts have yielded mixed effects over the last 20 years. Program effectiveness is driven by a number of factors (e.g., program elements and implementation), but there remains a dearth of understanding regarding the role of school climate on the impact of bullying prevention programs. This gap is surprising, given research…

The outcome of American students' performances during international comparisons consistently scoring inadequately in mathematics exposes the crisis of deficient mathematics achievement thus causing deep concerns. Learners who acquire a strong theoretical foundation in mathematics at the primary level thrived later in more advanced level…