The role of school has drastically changed over the past several decades. Standards and added subjects lead to a challenging and narrow view of education. The consequences of added pressure undermine the role of play throughout K-12 school systems. Research studies continue to describe play as vital for the success of children's development and…

In this article, two instructional practices, "Numbered Heads Together" (NHT) and "Carousel Brainstorming" (CB), are discussed to guide instructors through the intentional practice of incorporating flexible groupings (CEC, HLP 17) in their daily instruction for the purpose of creating Culturally Relevant PK-12 Learning…

Assessment News outlines findings from an investigation of inequalities in the current use of special assessment conditions (SAC) in NCEA assessments, along with rising demand for their use. The research also explored the potential of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to help improve assessment accessibility, and to reduce the overall demand for…

Principal leadership is at the core of successful school turnaround. This qualitative study explored principals' perceptions of the success or failure of turnaround methods in their New York City charter school communities. Principal leadership of low-performing schools is one of the most important elements of turnaround success (Stronge & Xu,…

This research study examined teachers' perceptions of professional development needs of teachers on student achievement through 66 (Male=17; Female=49) secondary teachers. A closer look at current trends and research in education shows a link between teacher learning and student achievement. Teacher preferences are an important component in…

Districts are struggling to accelerate students' learning, support their health and wellness, and close the achievement gap. Labeled "worst" in 1987, by 2017 Chicago Public Schools was among the nation's most improved school systems. Chicago's story embeds many lessons about system change. Sharon Greenberg and Anthony S. Bryk illustrate…

Given the widespread use of school-based problem-solving teams (SB PSTs), empirical evidence establishing their effectiveness is essential. Guided by the "Input-Mediator-Output-Input" (IMOI) Framework, this meta-analysis examined SB PST effectiveness generally and differentiated measured effects by targeted outcomes and specific SB PST…

Since the implementation of the legislation of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and Title I there is one group to which the achievement gap has widened: the Black male. Not only are Black males are in the lowest percentage on every marker of educational success (Kirp, 2010). Black males lead the percentages for every negative educational…

The traditional points system and subsequent Grade Point Average (GPA) in education perpetuates an evaluation of academic performance which reflects arbitrary weighting of assignments and/or assessments. As such, GPAs which are calculated using a traditional points system are not unidimensional in their design. The baseball batting and slugging…

A school's emphasis on academic success (SEAS) is a crucial aspect of school climate that can be rated by different informants, such as teachers or principals, and with respect to their perception of different groups' emphasis on academic success, such as parents or students. We know little about whether there is agreement between these ratings.…

During and in the immediate years after the global COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government has given school districts across the United States millions of dollars through a series of three final grants called the Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief (ESSER) Grant to help improve education, decrease student learning losses suffered…

Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) are government-funded accounts typically established for parents who opt not to enroll their children in public kindergarten through grade 12 (K--12) schools. ESAs allow parents to spend funds that the state would have spent for their student to attend their local public school on a broad array of educational…

Principals are the second-largest school-based contributor to student achievement. Interventions focused early in the "pipeline" for identifying and developing effective principals might be a promising strategy for promoting principal effectiveness, yet no prior research has examined measures of principal performance during preservice…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results have long displayed student achievement in two ways: as points on a stable vertical scale that typically runs from 0 to 300 or 500 and as the percentages of test takers whose scores reach or surpass a trio of "achievement levels." These achievement levels--dubbed…

Guided by the self-system process model, the aim of this study was to unravel the relationship between students' perceived teacher support and academic achievement as well as to address the role of student engagement, using a meta-analytic approach. Based on 71 empirical articles, we found that there was a small to medium correlation between…