During the COVID-19 Pandemic, the traditional approach to the teaching-learning process took a great blow after the implementation of the Community Quarantine, and the sudden shift of the teaching modality. With this sudden shift, students experienced a learning lag making the gap between Students' Level and Grade Level Standards widen. This study…

In this study, we examine the association between attending a Non-Formal Learning Center (NLFC) in Sokoto and Bauchi states for at least nine months and reading outcomes for out-of-school children (OOSC) who are mainstreamed into formal schooling by grade 4 (P4). We use Hierarchical Linear Modeling with data from 1,116 pupil Early Grade Reading…

Although there is an abundance of research on the association of school poverty (or socioeconomic status) and test score level, there is very little rigorous longitudinal evidence on the cumulative effects of exposure to differing school contexts. Drawing from methods used first in epidemiology and then in neighborhood effects research, we use…

The roles of technology and education were at the forefront throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This mixed-methods study examines the role of the three levels of the digital divide (i.e., access, capability, and outcomes) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Kentucky. We create and analyze a new multifaceted measure of district-level digital capacity to…

This study measured the effectiveness of Readable English, a reading fluency and comprehension program, on underperforming sixth, seventh, and eighth grade rural, American English-speaking students over the course of one school year. Students were randomly assigned to either the intervention condition (n = 167) or the typical practice condition (n…

Purpose: The purposes of this alphabet knowledge (AK) tutorial are to provide (a) a description of its developmental sequence, (b) evidence-based assessment considerations, (c) evidence-based intervention guidance, and (d) a discussion of three service delivery models that speech-language pathologists (SLPs) can use when providing intervention…

This sequential explanatory analysis reports on the observed differences in growth on decoding, word knowledge, and reading comprehension between second grade males and females after participating in a readers theater treatment or business as usual instruction. The quantitative results revealed that males made greater gains than females in the…

Girls tend to do better than boys academically, in part because they are more engaged in school. What if they weren't? Using nationally representative data, I examine how equal starting points and trajectories of behavioral engagement in elementary school could change gender test score gaps. I find that equal engagement patterns could entirely…

Analyzed in this investigation were the current Texas state-mandated assessments in reading and the extent to which test scores differed among English Language Learners who were Not Poor (i.e., did not qualify for the reduced or free lunch program), English Language Learners who were Moderately Poor (i.e., qualified for the reduced lunch program),…

In this investigation, differences in the reading performance as a function of degree of economic disadvantage for Texas Grade 3 students were examined. Data were obtained from the Texas Education Agency on all Texas Grade 3 students for the 2012-2013, 2013-2014, and 2014-2015 school years. In all analyses, statistically significant differences,…

Background: Students vary in their initial achievement when they enter school and their rate of academic growth as they move through school. These differences have implications for classroom instruction and educational policy. Although previous research has examined initial achievement and growth differences, a gap remains in understanding how…

Although research related to the Science of Reading has documented the positive effects of explicit, systematic reading instruction for all students, students from historically marginalized groups often experience differential opportunities to learn and are likely to perform lower than their peers on large scale measures of reading achievement.…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a significant difference exists in academic achievement between all students and economically disadvantaged students when compared by socioeconomic levels in the North Carolina middle grades learner (as measured by reading and mathematics standardized tests). It also sought to determine whether…

Important educational policy decisions, like whether to shorten or extend the school year, often require accurate estimates of how much students learn during the year. Yet, related research relies on a mostly untested assumption: that growth in achievement is linear throughout the entire school year. We examine this assumption using a dataset…

Every summer, the news is filled with stories about summer learning loss. The warnings sound dire: two months of math learning lost for most students every summer, and two to three months of reading learning lost for low-income students, according to the National Summer Learning Association. By the ninth grade, "summer learning loss during…