A quasi-experimental design investigated the effectiveness of three reading intervention types in increasing reading comprehension, both explicit and implicit, using a sample of 78 students, approximately 17% of the population of third through fifth grades at a single-school, rural, K-12, Central Texas school district with an enrollment of…

In this empirical study we examined the effect of a literacy-infused science intervention on fifth grade economically challenged students' science achievement in the curriculum-based and standardized assessments. A total of 27 treatment students and 20 comparison students from two intermediate schools in a rural district in South Texas in the…

"This We Believe" (NMSA, 2010) advocated the training of teachers in programs designed to specifically prepare middle level teachers. Teacher education programs are challenged to provide instruction in content, pedagogy and dispositions. Many colleges and universities have included field experience to enhance teacher dispositions among…

The following study investigated the relationship between teacher effectiveness, as defined by the teacher's proficiency score on Domain VIII of the Texas Professional Development and Appraisal System (PDAS), and student achievement on the fourth- and fifth-grade Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) reading and mathematics tests. This…

This study examined the effect of an innovative smoking prevention program, the "Giant Texas SmokeScream," on 512 middle school students' knowledge, perceptions, and behavioral intent about smoking. The data indicated that the program had no effect on students and provided a basis for discussion of "proinnovation bias." The…

The purpose of this paper is to present findings from a program evaluation conducted to examine the effectiveness of the Schools Attuned program in a north Texas school district. Schools Attuned was developed by a professor of pediatrics, Dr. Mel Levine (2002), as a professional development model to train teachers to identify cognitive and…