Purpose: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the implementation and impact of the IDEA Public Schools' Mathematics Curriculum Redesign (MCR) effort, funded by an Innovation and Research (EIR) grant. Methods: The study used a quasi-experimental matching design to examine the effect of MCR on student achievement outcomes. The study compared…

Sixth-grade band, orchestra, and choir directors face a complex challenge when starting their new ensembles in the fall. Sixth-grade students are diverse; some come from strong music programs with adequate resources and others from weaker music programs with fewer resources. In addition, student populations are often ethnically and…

Guided by the social emotional learning framework, this study examined whether early adolescents' social awareness (empathic concern, perspective taking) and self-management (effortful control) would uniquely contribute to early adolescents' subsequent forms of aggression, and whether perceptions of their school climate (friction, cohesion,…

This study aimed to find the characteristics of public school math classrooms and how they influence self-efficacy of students. Data were collected on math students in grades 4 through 12 in a North Texas school district. Two surveys were administered to students in the district. Within 10 days, the students completed a classroom environment…

It is imperative that schools and communities give students opportunities to participate in active citizenship and prepare them with the important skills and dispositions needed to become informed citizens. Action civics is a promising practice that puts students at the heart of civics learning by providing them with the opportunity to learn about…

The Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) is a rapidly expanding network of public charter schools whose mission is to improve the education of low-income children. As of the 2012-2013 school year, 125 KIPP schools are in operation in 20 different states and the District of Columbia (DC). Ultimately, KIPP's goal is to prepare students to enroll and…

Data gathered from 325 middle school students in four U.S. states indicate that both male (p < 0.0005, RSQ = 0.33) and female (p < 0.0005, RSQ = 0.36) career aspirations for "being a scientist" are predictable based on knowledge of dispositions toward mathematics, science and engineering, plus self-reported creative tendencies. For…

The evaluation of the Texas Rural Technology (R-Tech) Pilot sought to understand how districts implemented R-Tech grants, the effects of implementation on student and teacher outcomes, as well as the cost effectiveness and sustainability of R-Tech. The Texas legislature (80th Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 2007) authorized the creation of…

Efforts to reform the educational system in the United States from 1954-2012 have failed to recognize the importance of the students' perspective about a school's culture and its impact on student achievement. This study addressed the problem of an achievement gap that exists between high poverty schools and their more affluent counterparts in a…

Bullying has been around for decades; however, with the advancements of new emerging technology and devices, the ability for bullying to transcend into the cyber-world is becoming an international issue. Researchers have been intently studying the effects associated with cyberbullying to gain a better understanding of its perpetrators, victims,…

Throughout the history of education, it has been noted that teachers are influential people in lives of children (Applegate & Applegate, 2004; Daisey, 2010; Gambrell, 1996; Ruddell, 1995). Children spend one-third (or more) of the day with teachers; and as they enter into adolescence, children come in contact with more and more teachers during…

The TALPS study aims to build on the existing research base to develop promising methodologies to identify chronically low-performing and turnaround schools, as well as to identify promising strategies for turning around chronically low-performing schools. By looking specifically at schools identified as turnaround, in comparison to nonturnaround…

This study provided a springboard for future teacher preparation evaluation studies by examining the 4-8 mathematics teacher preparation component of the teacher preparation program at a large state institution in Texas. The research questions for this study were: (1) To what extent is the 4-8 mathematics teacher preparation program consistent…

Ironically, adults control most of the world of children's literature: adults write the books; adults choose which books to publish; adults review the books, adults bestow the awards on books and adults purchase the books for bookstores, libraries, and their children. In this paradigm of adult control, children's opinions are often overlooked. The…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between teacher attitude toward Black English and student achievement in reading. For this study, 61 teachers of reading or English/Language Arts in grades 3-6 were surveyed. These teachers, whose informed consent letters indicated a willingness to participate, were selected from 17…