Researchers use data from the RAND American Mathematics Educator Study surveys of public school principals and teachers to investigate three school structures--referred to as "school opportunity structures" throughout this report--that may affect kindergarten through 8th grade (K-8) students' mathematics learning. These structures are…

We studied how the distal policy mechanisms of curricular aims and objectives articulated in official curriculum documents influenced classroom instruction, and the factors that were associated with the enactment of those curricular aims and objectives. The study was set in the U.S. context, where there is an ambitious effort to transform…

This critical ethnography studies five Latino boys, their parents and teachers and how they see themselves as part of the academic community in a public middle school on eastern Long Island. Students were observed in classes and students, parents and teachers were interviewed. Each interview was recorded and transcribed. Tables were created that…

Collective leadership of teachers and administrators can be a vehicle for catalyzing school improvement. In chemistry, a catalyst is any substance that increases the rate of reaction without itself being consumed. Leadership that accelerates good work without using up the leader is increasingly necessary. We identified schools that demonstrated…

This nonexperimental quantitative study surveyed middle level educators' perceptions of student engagement during the COVID-19 global pandemic. The In-Person versus Online Learning (IPVOL) survey was administered broadly across the Lower Hudson Valley of New York resulting in 152 responses. This study's findings supported the literature and…

Bullying is a major challenge faced by students and stakeholders in the education system. Governments and educators have implemented various initiatives and strategies to address bullying. Rising cases of bullying have raised scrutiny over the role of school counselors. This research investigated school counselors' perceived self-efficacy in…

Teachers at a public middle school were given a questionnaire assessing the supports for student behavior and emotional needs in their school and district. Results show that teachers at this middle school perceive themselves as highly effective in forming individual relationships with students. Areas of growth include more clearly communicating…

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) has a partnership with Questar Assessment Inc. (Questar) for the development of the 2020 Grades 3-8 Mathematics Tests. Teachers from across the State work with NYSED in a variety of activities to ensure the validity and reliability of the New York State Testing Program (NYSTP). The 2020 Grades 6-8…

The New York State Department of Education (NYSED) has a partnership with Questar Assessment Inc. (Questar) for the development of the 2020 Grades 3-8 Mathematics Tests. Teachers from across the State work with NYSED in a variety of activities to ensure the validity and reliability of the New York State Testing Program (NYSTP). The 2020 Grades 6-8…

This qualitative study investigated teachers' perceptions of their own writing abilities and processes, the adequacy of their pre-service teacher preparation, and the efficacy of in-service, school system and school building-level support, and how each of these components affected the educator's aptitude to teach students in grade six through…

Promoting Adolescents' Comprehension of Text (PACT) is a text- and discourse-based set of instructional practices that engage students with disciplinary texts as a means of building content knowledge and improving reading comprehension. PACT)s "efficacy" has been the subject of extensive previous trials. The purpose of this study was to…

The overall aim of the Effective Implementation Cohort (EIC) investment is to increase district capacity to implement a high-quality middle years math curriculum as part of a Coherent Instructional System (CIS) to accelerate learning for students who are experiencing poverty, Black, Latino/a, and/or English Learner (EL)-Designated ("priority…

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects and impact of interdisciplinary teaming on teacher practices and efficacy. This study revealed the perspectives of eight 7th and 8th grade teachers, who teach one of the core disciplines (English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies) and the school principal by interviewing…

Purpose: Our purpose was to gather and evaluate accurate, up-to-date information on physical education (PE) policy implementation across multiple U.S. states and regions. Methods: A U.S. Physical Education and Physical Activity Policy questionnaire was developed and completed by 4,845 public-school PE teachers from 25 U.S. states. The U.S.…

We evaluated a curriculum that focused on bolstering grit and locus of control in seventh grade students at a school in upstate New York. The intervention included lessons aimed at building a growth mindset and determination, along with writing projects and collaborative work. A pre-post design was utilized such that surveys measuring grit and…