With online learning becoming a more viable option for teachers to develop their expertise, our report shares one such effort focused on improving the teaching of statistics. We share design principles and learning opportunities in an online course developed specifically to serve as a widescale online professional development opportunity for…

Using unique administrative data from North Carolina that allow us to separate classroom teacher turnover during the school year from end-of-year turnover, we find students who lose their teacher during the school year have significantly lower test score gains (on average -7.5 percent of a standard deviation unit) than those students whose…

This paper examines the role of teaching assistants and other personnel on student outcomes in elementary schools during a period of recession-induced cutbacks in teachers and teaching assistants. Using panel data from North Carolina, we exploit the state's unique system of financing its local public schools to identify the causal effects of…

Wilburn implemented the Teacher Advancement Program (TAP) from 2008-09 through 2014-15. TIF [Teacher Incentive Fund] funding supported the performance pay component since 2010-11. All TAP principles were implemented. However, challenges occurred related to staff turnover, scheduling, and the extra work involved. Many teachers did not find the TAP…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how closely kindergarten teachers in a high performing school district in North Carolina instruct students towards mastery of phonemic awareness skills. This study explored to what degree teachers are implementing the findings of Shanahan (2005) and Ehri, Nunes, Willows, Schuster,…

This study was designed to improve the current beginning teacher support program and address the problem of beginning or early career teachers leaving the district. Researchers have found that as many as 50% of teachers leave the profession within their first five years of teaching (Darling-Hammond & Sykes, 2003). This study proposed changes…

Book retelling has been frequently used as an indicator of children's reading proficiency. However, how children's performance varies across retelling narrative and expository texts and whether that has different implications for reading proficiency remains understudied. The present study examined 85 high-poverty second- and third-graders'…

The study examines teacher perspectives on preparedness to implement the transition of over 50 million K-12 students to online and virtual teaching formats. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, students were instructed to remain at home and to avoid the potential dangers of virus spread in schools. Once this transition began, and then…

A Vygotskian approach to assessment is proposed by invoking the distinction between the development of lower and higher psychological functions. Higher psychological functions are specifically human and develop with the use of cultural tools via mediation. Accordingly, a distinction is made between tests that are based on association, which have…

From a sociocultural perspective to assessment, this study investigated parents' beliefs about formative assessment. When North Carolina (NC) received an Early Learning Challenge Grant, its Department of Public Instruction was funded to develop a kindergarten entry assessment. The department proposed the development of a kindergarten to third…

This article contributes to the literature on school turnaround by examining the effect of the North Carolina Transformation (NCT) initiative, which was implemented in 75 low-performing schools after the state's efforts to turn around the lowest performing schools under Race to the Top ended, on student reading score growth in grades K-3. Reading…

The purpose of this study is to provide the best possible learning environment for K-8 English Learners (ELs) in social studies content suggested by ESL teachers and school administrators in North Carolina. ESL teachers and school administrators share their perceptions of best practices and strategies that have been effective in addressing the…

Data from the NICHD [National Institute of Child Health and Human Development] Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n = 1,307) were used to estimate the additive and multiplicative benefits of high quality child care between birth to 54 months of age and high quality elementary school education between first and fifth grade. Results…

This quasi-experimental study used multiple data sources to examine Playworks implementation and outcomes across two school years (2014-15 and 2015-16) at six WCPSS elementary schools. Differences in outcomes between Playworks and matched-comparison schools were examined. Similar to other national studies (Beeker et al., 2012; Fortson et al.,…

The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, a historically American Indian university that is experiencing major climate change impacts from hurricanes, was the setting for four service-learning projects seeking to advance sustainability in a racially diverse community. Courses in American Indian Studies, English, and Social Work, in…