EPS contracted with LXD Research, a third-party research company, to examine the relationship between progress in S.P.I.R.E. and student reading outcomes at Martin County School District in Florida. LXD Research analyzed 192 students from grades 3-5 in 13 elementary schools who use S.P.I.R.E./i.S.P.I.R.E. reading intervention that uses an…

A jurisdiction-wide zero-stakes Foundational Skills Assessment administered in grade 4 in British Columbia, Canada, used a three-point scale to publicly disseminate aggregate school/district-level results, and a five-point scale to convey results to students/parents. For a variety of long-term outcomes, a regression discontinuity analysis shows a…

This study explored the impact of developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) on reading test scores as measured by the Mississippi Academics Assessment Program (MAAP) for students in grades 3-5. The research problem is centered on the potential disconnect between traditional teaching methods and the developmental needs of students, which…

The goal of this quantitative study is to determine if there is a significant difference in the reading proficiency rates for students with disabilities in districts utilizing the State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP) as evident by the scores from the English Language Arts portion of the Mississippi Academic Assessment Program (MAAP). This study…

Background: Early-grade reading proficiency is well documented as in important factor for later academic success. Researchers and educators consider the achievement of reading proficiency by the end of grade three to be crucial to future academic success and financial independence (Hein et al., 2013; La Paro & Pianta, 2000; Singh, 2013). As…

The U.S. population has become more racially and ethnically diverse over time. The Latinx population growth makes Spanish the most common language encountered in non-native English-speaking populations such as Texas. The research objective of this study was to examine if implementing a One-Way Dual Language Education (DLE) Program could result in…

The purpose of this quantitative within-groups comparative study was to determine if there was a significant difference between the 2019 (pre-COVID-19) and the 2021 (post-COVID-19) third grade Standards of Learning (SOL) reading and math scores in urban Title I elementary schools in a southeastern state. The conceptual framework for this study was…

Purpose: The overarching purpose of this journal-ready dissertation was to determine the extent to which Grade 4 Black students differed in their reading performance on the Texas state-mandated assessment by their gender and by their economic status. Specifically addressed was the degree to which differences were presented in their ability to…

Currently 15 percent of U.S. students receive special education services, a widespread intensive intervention with variable effects on students. Spurred by changes in federal policy, many states and districts have begun adopting the Response to Intervention (RTI) approach to identifying students to receive special education services. RTI seeks to…

Physical activity can meaningfully influence educational outcomes. However, physical activity among youth remains insufficient (World Health Organization, 2018).Youth who are not physically active are more likely to encounter chronic health issues including obesity, depression, and anxiety (Bartelink et al., 2019, Bélair et al., 2018, Krebs,…

Background/Context: Spurred by changes in federal policy, Response to Intervention (RTI) has witnessed increased adoption across states and districts in the past several decades (Berkeley et al., 2020). Originating in the special education field, RTI involves a shift from a uniform instructional approach to a tiered instructional approach…

This study investigates the impact of the MindPlay Reading program on student literacy achievement in Dayton City Schools, Ohio, during the 2021-2022 academic year. A correlational analysis was conducted in collaboration with LXD Research to examine the relationship between MindPlay usage and student outcomes on literacy assessments. The sample…

Metacognition refers to the capacity to reflect upon our own cognitive processes. Its contribution to reading development, when children start building their orthographic lexicon, still remains unknown. Here, we evaluate the metacognitive efficiency of children aged between 6 and 7 years old (N = 60) in 5 experimental tasks; four linguistic tasks…

Purpose: The purpose of this journal-ready dissertation was to determine the degree to which enrollment in a Title I, Part A school was related to the reading performance of Grade 4 students on the Texas state-mandated reading assessment. Specifically examined was the extent to which boys and girls enrolled in Title I, Part A schools and non-Title…

Mandatory grade retention for poor-performing readers has been a disputed practice for decades. Since the early-2000s, state-level mandatory grade retention policies have proliferated. In 18 states and Washington, D.C. mandatory grade retention exists for students in the third-grade who fail an end-of-year standardized reading exam. These policies…