The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics have a widespread impact on children's statistical learning opportunities. The Grade 6 standards are particularly ambitious in the goals they set. In this critique, experiences helping children work toward the Grade 6 Common Core statistics expectations are used in conjunction with previous research…

Idaho uses the English Language Arts and Mathematics tests from the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) for the Idaho Standard Achievement Tests (ISAT). ISAT results have been have been reported almost exclusively as "percent proficient" statistics (i.e., the percentage of Idaho students who performed at the "A" level…

Background: Although McNemar Test is the most appropriate tool for analyzing pre-post differences in dichotomous items (e.g., "yes" or "no", "correct" or "incorrect", etc.), many scholars have noted the inappropriate use of Pearson's Chi-square Test by researchers, including social scientists and evaluators,…

Exit rates from Limited English Proficiency (LEP) for students who enter the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) as LEP students vary by when students enter WCPSS (based on students entering in kindergarten, grade 6 or 7, or grade 9). Based on our 2008-09 cohorts, students entering in grades 6 or 7 were most likely to exit LEP status after…

This report examines the implementation and effects of the academic summer program for middle school students offered by Building Educated Leaders for Life (BELL). BELL's middle school program serves rising sixth- through eighth-grade students who are performing one to two years below grade level. The goals of the program are to increase students'…

In this technical report, we present the results of a reliability study of the sixth-grade multiple choice reading comprehension measures available on the easyCBM learning system conducted in the spring of 2011. Analyses include split-half reliability, alternate form reliability, person and item reliability as derived from Rasch analysis,…

Twenty-four studies were included in this systematic review of vocabulary research literature. The review corroborates the findings of past studies that several strategies have emerged that increase students' vocabulary knowledge. Findings further reinforce the National Reading Panel's recommendations regarding the context and magnitude of studies…

Randomized trials of educational interventions often face logistical hurdles (Cook, 2002). For example, sometimes they are prevented from reaching their full-term. This would happen if, as a condition of participation, subjects insist on receiving the treatment program within a certain timeframe. This timeframe may be shorter than the full-term…

This study investigates change in the home language environment of Language Minority (LM) learners between kindergarten and eighth grade, drawing on data from the National Center for Education Statistics' Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten (ECLS-K) Cohort. The analytic sample included 1,538 children whose parents reported a language…

The purpose in this study was to examine the longitudinal relationships of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation with reading literacy development. In particular, the authors (a) investigated reading amount as mediator between motivation and reading literacy and (b) probed for bidirectional relationships between reading motivation and reading…

The authors used two studies involving 5th- and 6th-grade children to examine factors potentially associated with individual differences in children's perceptions of and anticipated responses to ambiguous teases. Study 1 assessed the extent to which the children would expect recipients to feel hurt in response to a series of ambiguous teases and…

What type of work goals provide adolescents with the sense that schoolwork is important and that their lives are meaningful? This mixed-methods study of a diverse sample of 6th-, 9th-, and 12th-grade adolescents (N = 148) investigated the relationship between work goals, purpose, and meaning using a semistructured interview and a survey. Interview…

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvements Act of 2001 (MCKV), which provides funds to local educational agencies (LEAs), is almost a decade old, yet no evaluations of its academic effectiveness have been reported. Using a systems theory framework, the authors answer the question of whether homeless students in grade 6 from LEAs…

This study examined the effectiveness of a comprehensive, school-based intervention program, Creating A Safe School (CASS; The Ophelia Project) designed to reduce relational aggression (RA) and relational victimization (RV). Sixth-grade students (N = 406) were surveyed before and after the intervention. Program effects were tested using a…

Dynamic features of peer network experiences (membership fluidity and network interconnectedness) were examined for their role in African American and White early adolescents' sense of belonging in mathematics classrooms. Because these dynamic features are naturally present in adolescents' peer group affiliations, attention to them provides a more…