This study examines the effects of self-efficacy, students' effort and access to educational resources, and teachers' development on the achievement of elementary school students in mathematics. Using the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) restricted data set, this study determined if and how these three aspects individually…

Project-Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which students learn by actively engaging in real-world, personally meaningful projects that allow conceptual transformation to occur within the educational process while fostering intellectual curiosity in a supportive learning environment. PBL supports students developing deep content…

According to the National Reading Panel's (2000) report, there was not enough evidence in previous reading research to recommend the instructional practice of having students spend classroom time reading independently. The 2019 National Assessment of Education Progress report, however, reported that more than half of fourth grade and eighth grade…

Attainment of grade-level reading proficiency by fourth grade is pivotal to student academic success. In fourth grade, students shift from learning to read to reading to learn where they gain the ability to use their reading skills to access knowledge. Despite the connection between fourth grade reading proficiency and future academic success,…

Results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP; National Center for Education Statistics, 2020) have shown that despite efforts to raise the literacy skill levels of students in elementary school, the average reading scores for fourth-grade students in 2019 were still cause for concern. The NAEP data showed the reading scores in…

The purpose of this dissertation was to scrutinize the complexities involved in the formulation and implementation of relevant policies. The design of each study mirrored key elements in the legislative life cycle specifically as it pertained to civics education policymaking, including problem identification, policy creation, and policy diffusion.…

Grades 4 and 8 students had shown slow but steady improvement in scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) mathematics assessment from 1990 until 2013, but performance since then has been lower despite the introduction of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) in the early 2010s. This study examined student…

In 2022, 8% of all 4th grade black or African American students in Wisconsin scored proficient or advanced in reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP, 2023). As disparities in achievement are perpetuated across the state of Wisconsin as well as the nation, it is becoming increasingly important for elementary principals to…

There is a significant lack of students in Tennessee who are reading at a proficient level. According to the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading assessment data, nationally only 37% of fourth grade students are reading at a proficient level. Specifically, in the state of Tennessee, only 35% of fourth graders scored in…

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of a community cinema's media literacy workshop on the writing products of fourth and fifth grade students at a non-public elementary school in Louisiana. Because of the importance of writing skills in academia, professions, and interpersonal communication, and because of the documented lack of…

The problem is that translations of language in standardized mathematics tests are not provided, which reduces the achievement scores of native-Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELLs) in Grades 4 and 8. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore teachers' perceptions of language translation for the National Assessment of…

Over half of 4th grade students did not meet proficiency standards in mathematics on the National Assessment of Educational Performance in 2019 and this problem has persisted over time. This underachievement coupled with the numerous barriers to implementing evidence-based practices in schools reveals a need to provide a menu of effective…

There is a broad consensus across the political spectrum on the need for K-12 education reform. The Obama administration focused on early childhood programs, common standards, charter schools, and more effective teachers. As school districts align curriculum and teaching practices with common core standards, standards-based mathematics programs…

Educational quality is a way to influence the future of the American economy (Hanushek, 1986). Large-scale assessments are designed to determine quality in education by measuring student achievement. A connection exists between the standards, teachers, and assessments that form a system of accountability within education. State and national…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the use of active learning in classroom instruction and student achievement, and to ascertain whether this relationship is influenced by classroom discipline problems. Is it the case that the more a teacher utilizes active learning strategies in the classroom, the more her…