Early developmental skills, such as attention, language, and fine motor abilities, can be assessed in preschool to predict later achievement, particularly in reading. Connecticut Documentation & Observation for Teaching System (CT DOTS) is a holistic measure used to track the skill development of preschoolers who attend preschool programs…

The problem is that Connecticut school principals face time allocation challenges impacting their ability to ensure student growth in reading and mathematics. With the knowledge of which actions have the greatest impact on student growth, principals can make strategic use of time to increase student achievement. The gap in the literature is that…

The evolving educational landscape of our students' needs post-Covid has highlighted that student response to intervention must be of concern to all educators. Our student population has experienced an event that is like no other in our shared educational histories and our response to the aftermath of this event and how we assist students who are…

The purpose of this mixed quantitative and qualitative study was to examine whether a relationship exists between the perceptions of principal-based leadership practices and 5th grade reading achievement. Standardized assessment measures used were the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS) and the 5th grade Connecticut Mastery…

Educators have known for generations the significance of teaching youngsters to read, but have turned their collective attention in only the past decade or so to the state of inadequate reading in high schools. The view is alarming by many accounts and has led national organizations to urge high school principals to add yet another responsibility…

This ex post facto, quasi-experimental study was conducted at a single-site, kindergarten through eighth grade district in rural, southeastern Connecticut. Of the single cohort of kindergarten students (N = 35) participating, eight students received fall intervention from a trained paraprofessional using "Stepping Stones to Literacy" and…

Mathematical achievement is a student's success or failure on an examination of performance in the area of mathematics (Jensen, 1993). In order for students to be successful in the area of mathematics, they benefit substantially from participating in high-interest activities (Trautwein, Ludtke, & Marsh, 2006). Music is one high-interest…

This study examined the effects of the Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) curriculum on reading achievement of students with various motivational levels. A 2X2 factorial design was used. The sample population consisted of 104 fourth grade students from an upper middle class school system in Connecticut. All students were administered a…