Main idea and summary are essential elements of reading comprehension. We report results from Grades 4 and 5 student performance on two years of state-mandated standardized reading testing which indicate that students perform statistically significantly lower on main idea and summary questions on the tests than any other question category. In this…

Since the mid-1970s, music education researchers studied and followed musicians' and non-musicians' views of music instrument gender stereotypes and associations. To understand instrument gender stereotypes, one must first understand the difference between sex and gender and gender's role in society. This research aims to study the views of…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to employ the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Standards for Students as taxonomy to classify educational mobile application (app) software into seven categories and empirically examine the influence on students' technology literacy. A purposeful sample of fifth grade core subject…

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…

Language immersion students' lexical, syntactic, and pragmatic competencies are well documented, yet their phonological skill has remained relatively unexplored. This study investigates the Spanish vowel productions of a cross-sectional sample of 35 one-way Spanish immersion students. Learner productions were analyzed acoustically and compared to…

Elementary math teachers (76) from selected Texas schools that included Grade 5 responded to an online self-report survey with respect to school-level factors that may be associated with student math achievement. Questions on the survey focused on school-level factors related to math, campus leadership, integration of technology in the math…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe the current school computer access rates of elementary school students and to determine the extent to which school computer access relates to academic achievement among Grade 5 students in the state of Texas. Specifically, the relationship of school computer access to student passing rates on the…

This study examined the relationships between teacher leadership, science teacher self-efficacy, and fifth-grade science student achievement in diverse schools in a San Antonio, Texas, metropolitan school district. Teachers completed a modified version of the "Leadership Behavior Description Question" (LBDQ) Form XII by Stogdill (1969),…

In Texas, fifth grade students are required to pass both the reading and math sections of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, or TAKS test, in order to be promoted to the next grade level. The purpose of this study is to describe parents' perceptions of the influence of the high-stakes TAKS test on the family lives of at-risk fifth grade…

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…

Federal educational policy, "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001", focused attention on America's education with conspicuous results. One aspect, "highly qualified classroom teacher" and "principal" (HQ), was taxing since states established individual accountability structures. The HQ impact and use of data-informed…

Finding appropriate instructional settings in science for students with disabilities is challenging, and the range of services or placements used is currently unknown. This study identifies administrative structures, instructional settings, and special/general education teacher roles in teaching science to students with disabilities. A phone…

The purpose of this study was to determine if educators were capitalizing on bilingual learners. use of their biliterate abilities to acquire scientific meaning and discourse that would formulate a scientific biliterate identity. Mixed methods were used to explore teachers. use of biliteracy and Funds of Knowledge (Moll, L., Amanti, C., Neff, D.,…

The current study describes an authentic learning experience designed to develop technology and science process skills through a carefully scaffolded curriculum using mealworms as a content focus. An individual mentor assigned to each 4th and 5th grade girl participating in the program delivered the curriculum. Results indicate mastery of science…

Vocabulary acquisition traditionally has been a struggle for students with special learning needs. This study involved an eleven year old fifth grade student with learning disabilities in reading and writing and limited English proficiency. Assistive technology assistance was provided from the Franklin Language Master 6000b and Microsoft's Power…