Using a randomized controlled trial, we tested a new teacher professional development program for increasing the language and literacy skills of young Latino English Learners with 45 teachers and 105 students in 12 elementary schools. School-based teams randomly assigned to the intervention received professional development focused on cultural…

In this correlational study, we analyzed data from 71 Spanish-English biliterate students in grades 3 (n=21), 4 (n=23), and 5 (n=27) with the goal of investigating the applicability of the Simple View of Reading (Gough & Tunmer, 1986; Hoover & Gough, 1990) in English and in Spanish for this population. The simple view posits that decoding…

Schools are under increasing pressure to reclassify their English learner (EL) students to "fluent English proficient" status as quickly as possible. This article examines timing to reclassification among Latino ELs in four distinct linguistic instructional environments: English immersion, transitional bilingual, maintenance bilingual,…

Given the need to enhance the academic language and early literacy skills of young children from low-income homes and the importance of the home literacy environment in supporting children's development, the purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand the home literacy environment of low-income African-American and Latino mothers of…

The authors explored trajectories of perceived discrimination over a 6-year period (five assessments in 6th-11th grade) in relation to academic, behavioral, and psychological adjustment in 8th and 11th grades. They distinguished discrimination from adults versus peers in addition to overt versus covert discrimination from peers. The sample…

Data from a focus group of nine Latina parents, specifically mothers from a South Texas border region known as the Rio Grande Valley, were analyzed using a qualitative methodology. Grounded in the theory of social capital, the purpose of the study was to understand the perceptions and experiences of Latina parents related to accessing information…

Low-income and minority students are substantially underrepresented in gifted education programs. The disparities persist despite efforts by many states and school districts to broaden participation through changes in their eligibility criteria. One explanation for the persistent gap is that standard processes for identifying gifted students,…

Gifted students' learning gains result from complex, advanced, and meaningful content provided by a knowledgeable teacher through high-quality curriculum and instruction at an appropriate pace with scaffolding and feedback. These elements exert influence that increases with dosage and within structures that facilitate student engagement in…

The Oakland Accelerates Program, funded by an Investing in Innovation (i3) development FY2011 grant, was a collaborative process for increasing the Oakland Unified School District's (California) capacity to support each and every student to graduate from high school with the knowledge and skills to be successful in college and postsecondary…

Objectives: This study examined the effects of Check & Connect (C&C) on the attendance, behavior, and academic outcomes of at-risk youth in a field-based effectiveness trial. Method: A multisite randomized block design was used, wherein 260 primarily Hispanic (89%) and economically disadvantaged (74%) students were randomized to treatment…

We evaluate a tracking program in a large urban district where schools with at least one gifted fourth grader create a separate "gifted/high achiever" classroom. Most seats are filled by non-gifted high achievers, ranked by previous-year test scores. We study the program's effects on the high achievers using (1) a rank-based regression…

Using a large, longitudinal data set that represents 701 state-funded pre-k classrooms and over 2,900 children enrolled in 11 states, the current study examined two hypotheses: (1) children would be perceived to be better adjusted at the beginning of pre-k when rated by a same-race teacher than by a different-race teacher, and (2) children would…

Building Assets Reducing Risks (BARR) is a social emotional model that achieves academic outcomes through combining use of real-time student data with proven relationship-building strategies and intensive teacher collaboration to prevent course failure. BARR is a recipient of US Department of Education "Investing in Innovation (i3)"…

We investigated the latent factor structure of the "Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening for Kindergarteners" in Spanish ("PALS español K"). Participants included 590 Spanish-speaking, public-school kindergarteners from five states. Three theoretically-guided factor structures were measured and tested with one half of our…

We adapted and piloted Collaborative Strategic Reading-High School, a reading comprehension intervention, with three high school students with autism spectrum disorder to investigate its effects on their reading comprehension. Using a nonconcurrent, multiple-baseline design, participants with autism spectrum disorder were paired with a…