Mathematical fact fluency, particularly in addition and subtraction, is crucial for students' success in later mathematical concepts and is often a focus of elementary education. Educators are exploring tools to enhance math fluency, such as Reflex Math, a digital program designed to accelerate students' fact fluency through adaptive learning…

Purpose: A growing trend in instructional improvement efforts is the use of formative assessment informed by research-based developmental trajectories of how students gain deeper understanding of subject matter content over time. This article reports the findings of a large-scale experimental study of an innovative mathematics professional…

This mixed methods action research dissertation examines the effects of implementing growth mindset teaching practices in third grade math as a means to improve student math self-efficacy, math mindset and student achievement. Since the transition to the Pennsylvania Core Standards, students across the state including those in this district have…

Acting out behaviors is a hindrance to learning across the country. The school-wide positive behavior support (SWPBS) model is a behaviorally-based systems approach to addressing problem behaviors in our school today. The problem this study is designed to address is the issue that student misbehaviors and disruptions cause a loss of valuable…

Class size and student achievement have been debated for decades. The vast amount of research on this topic is either conflicting or inconclusive. There are large and small scale studies that support both sides of this dilemma (Achilles, Nye, Boyd-Zaharias, Fulton, & Cain, 1994; Glass & Smith, 1979; Slavin, 1989). Class size reduction is a…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the effect of prekindergarten attendance on boys' and girls' standardized reading achievement scores in third and fifth grade. The thrust for more emphasis on increased information regarding the impact that prekindergarten has on standardized test results, both short-term and long-term, is…

This study investigated elementary teachers' observations of how a representative sample of achieving, average and struggling readers adapted the use of best practice comprehension strategies taught in the classroom as well as during instructional level guided reading time. A researcher-constructed strategy checklist was the instrument teachers…

This study contributes a novel perspective on grade retention by empirically examining how classroom composition relates to the standardized-testing performance of grade-retained students in their post-retained years. This evaluation employed a sample of entire cohorts of urban elementary school children in the Philadelphia School District over 6…

This study describes English language learner (ELL) student enrollment and achievement trends in Pennsylvania public schools between 2002/03 and 2008/09. Two research questions guide this study: (1) How did the enrollment of ELL students in Pennsylvania public schools change between 2002/03 and 2008/09?; and (2) How did performance (the percentage…

The literature on school absences has focused predominantly on the reasons for student truancy, or it has assessed only aggregate student absences in their effect on achievement. However, this study brings forth a new issue: the relationship between types of absences--excused versus unexcused--and school performance. With a quantitative model of…

Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh initiated an education reform package, "Turning the Tide: An Agenda for Excellence in Pennsylvania Public Schools" in October 1983. The statewide competency testing program which followed was "Testing for Essential Learning and Literacy Skills (TELLS), and it tested reading and mathematics…

Pennsylvania's "Testing for Essential Learning and Literacy Skills" (TELLS) program was instituted during the 1984-85 school year, to identify reading and mathematics problems early in a student's school career. This document describes the intent and legislation behind TELLS, the implementation of the test, population tested, properties…