The Pupil Premium Grant was introduced in 2011 with the aim to 'close' the attainment gap within education between children classified as disadvantaged and their peers. However, recent research has shown that this gap appears to be widening across the education sector. This article explores the reasons why the Pupil Premium Grant was introduced,…

Prior research into computer-assisted instruction (CAI) has demonstrated that the use of technology in the classroom has the potential to help underperforming young learners. The literature has also stressed that thorough evidence-based testing is needed to ensure that effective instruction is provided to students and that accurate information is…

This brief continues ongoing research by NWEA® examining the degree to which the COVID-19 pandemic, and its associated school closures, influenced student learning. Prior research focused on math and reading and found that the pandemic's negative impact steadily accumulated during the 2020-2021 school year, with significant disparities in…

The current study examined the effects of a silent rapid reading skills training intervention on the reading rate and reading achievement of primary school students in China in order to determine the efficacy of the intervention and explore potential gender differences. A total of 108 Chinese primary school students were randomly assigned by the…

Background/Context: African American (AA) learners, like all other learners, bring into the classroom their cultural values, the way they express themselves, and how they problem-solve. Their life experiences, even at a young age, influence their social and emotional behavior. Unfortunately, all too many AA children experience life and family…

The main purpose of this study was to test the effects of word-problem (WP) intervention, with versus without embedded language comprehension (LC) instruction, on at-risk 1st graders' WP performance. We also isolated the need for a structured approach to WP intervention and tested the efficacy of schema-based instruction at 1st grade. Children (n…

Important educational policy decisions, like whether to shorten or extend the school year, often require accurate estimates of how much students learn during the year. Yet, related research relies on a mostly untested assumption: that growth in achievement is linear throughout the entire school year. We examine this assumption using a dataset…

The purpose of this study is to develop tests for monitoring the number sense skills of primary school students based on proficiency definitions and to compare their number sense skills according to gender, school type, and mother's educational level. The first stage addressed to test development in which anchor items were used for vertical…

The purpose of this descriptive case study was to review practices aimed at improving literacy outcomes for multilingual language learners (MLLs). This was done by studying the internal coherence practices of a superintendent in Community School District 100 (a pseudonym), an urban school district in the northeast region of the United States.…

Latinos are the fastest growing ethnic minority group in the United States. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that by the year 2050, one in three students attending schools will be Latino. Academically, Latinos are lagging far behind their non-Latino peers. One factor underlying this achievement gap may be the lack of cultural understanding of many…

This is a longitudinal study of the change in the academic achievement gap between African American and European American students from elementary to high schools with large administrative data from a school district in the United States. Analysis of variance between eight tracks of students defined by the school environment of isolated schools or…

Ethnic and racial disparities in educational outcomes, such as test scores, are a core issue of educational research. While the role of student and family factors in the formation of such disparities is well established, existing studies fail to draw a similarly clear picture of how teachers contribute to ethnic and racial achievement gaps. In…

Each summer families across the globe send their children to summer camps and daycares for what amounts to babysitting. This study takes the discussion beyond babysitting and explores a unique summer enrichment program offered to rising second through fifth grade students in a modified enrichment camp model. During the four-week program, students…

The Blinder-Oaxaca approach has been used to decompose the gender gap in mathematics test scores in private and public primary schools in Kenya. That is, the mathematics production functions are estimated separately for boys and girls, the difference between the boys' and girls' average scores is estimated and then decomposed into three…

Closing the achievement gap has been an ongoing topic for educational scholars for many years. Because of the deficiency of parent support in poverty-based demographics, impoverished students in America enter the public school system academically behind their counterparts. This leads to the achievement gap widening for many students who lack the…