In the U.S., state guidance to schools in response to the COVID-19 pandemic was politicized. We used state-level political affiliation to explore whether access to curricular resources differed pre-pandemic or during pandemic remote teaching and teachers' reported control over curricular resources during pandemic teaching. We found that…

The purpose of this study was to compare differences in teachers' instructional behaviors during Year 2 implementation of the A+ Model of arts integration. Forty-six (i.e., 23 control, 23 experimental) randomly selected teachers from six school sites (i.e., 3 control, 3 experimental) were observed over a two year period. In addition, six teachers…

The marked increases in standardized achievement testing have raised concerns of the educational community regarding the value of standardized testing programs and their potentially harmful effect on students. This study incorporated student perceptions and their views of standardized testing and combined this information with their performance on…

This study examines the stages of acquisition of "gateway" drug use among fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students at 11 elementary schools in Arkansas. A 109-item questionnaire, administered in the classrooms by the classroom teachers, solicited information about the stages of acquisition and the subjects' use of alcohol, smokeless…

Two studies examined the effectiveness of the Multicultural Reading and Thinking Program (McRAT), in which teachers infuse higher-order thinking strategies and performance-based assessment into classroom instruction. Four broad categories of thinking skills are included: analysis, comparison, inference/interpretation, and evaluation. In the first…

This study explored teacher perceptions toward giftedness among rural children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, before and after staff development. The study also explored the influence of staff development on teacher-designed instructional strategies to nurture giftedness. Five teachers at a K-4 school in rural Arkansas participated…

The Minimum Performance Test (MPT), Metropolitan Achievement Test, Sixth Edition (MAT6), and the new standards required by the 1983 Quality Education Act and their impact on teachers in Arkansas were assessed. A sample of 103 elementary school teachers from 39 school districts indicated that the tests and standards generally met with favorable…

The relationship between the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III (WISC-III) and the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Revised (CELF-R) was investigated in 53 third graders from students in the 15 educational cooperatives across Arkansas. Additional information regarding race, academic achievement, and aptitude was gathered for…

To address rural schools' growing need for teachers who can teach in both elementary and special education, Arkansas College has begun a 4-year program of dual certification that will prepare teachers for elementary and special education assignments. Serving a largely rural area, Arkansas College has first hand experience with the problems facing…

Arkansas law requires that each student aged 7 through 16 years in a home school program be tested annually using a nationally recognized standardized test chosen by the students' parents from a list of tests approved by the state. Achievement for home schooled and public schooled students in Arkansas was compared for grades 4, 7, and 10 using 6…