Paraphrasing, somewhat different from retelling and summarizing, helps students monitor their understanding and incorporate new knowledge with what they already know about a topic. Paraphrasing helps students realize that comprehension is the goal of reading.

This study explored the relationships among the components of the Arizona Department of Education's new teacher evaluation model, with a particular focus on the extent to which ratings from the state model's teacher observation instrument differentiated higher and lower performance. The study used teacher-level evaluation data collected by the…

Title I, Part A and Title II, Part A funds are provided to Houston Independent School District (HISD) through the 2002 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), also known as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). Both funds focus on enhancing student achievement, Title I, Part A through providing…

This paper describes a workshop led by female Engineering Technology students, with support from female faculty, to provide an introduction to Engineering Technology to 4th-7th grade girls through a series of interactive laboratory experiments. This outreach program was developed to improve attitudes towards science and engineering in middle…

The purpose of this study was to examine the simple view of reading (SVR) and contributions of verbal proficiency and reading fluency to reading comprehension for fourth-, seventh- and ninth-grade readers (N = 271). The SVR explained a significant proportion of variance in reading comprehension for all grades with decreasing explained variance in…

Most growth models implicitly assume that test scores have been vertically scaled. What may not be widely appreciated are the different choices that must be made when creating a vertical score scale. In this paper empirical patterns of growth in student achievement are compared as a function of different approaches to creating a vertical scale.…

This study examined middle school students' motivation to read using an adapted version of the Motivation to Read Profile (MRP) Survey. The MRP is comprised of items assessing students' self-concepts as readers and their value of reading. In total, 1080 sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students responded. Descriptive and inferential statistics…

This paper estimates the impact of the Michigan school finance reform, "Proposal A," on education inputs and test scores. Using a difference-in-difference estimation strategy, I find that school districts in Michigan used the increase in educational spending generated through "Proposal A" to increase teacher salaries and reduce…

The present study examined the cognitive factors that influence children's physical science learning from a multimedia instruction. Using a causally coherent text and visual models, we taught 4th- and 7th-grade children about the observable and molecular properties of the three states of water. We manipulated whether the text was read by a tutor…

In this article, we argue that preparing and maintaining a cadre of culturally responsive teachers is critical to improving urban education and achieving educational equity. We discuss a collaborative, social-justice-oriented approach to teacher preparation committed to developing a stable and effective teaching force reflective of the student…

This article reports findings from a study examining how altered readability levels affected struggling readers' (N = 288) comprehension of scientific concepts and vocabulary. Specifically, the researchers were interested in learning what effect altered readability levels have when low ability readers participate in a technology-based science…

Because parameter estimates from different calibration runs under the IRT model are linearly related, a linear equation can convert IRT parameter estimates onto another scale metric without changing the probability of a correct response (Kolen & Brennan, 1995, 2004). This study was designed to explore a new approach to finding a linear…

Involving students in authentic science work is one way to enhance their interest in science. This paper reports a project in which Year 4-7 students actively participated in a study that involved the provision of a suitable nesting site for local turtles. The students collected data on turtle nests at the site and evidence of turtle hatchlings at…

In the current state of social studies education, field trips are being cut from many schools' curriculum. While not a true substitution, today's technologies provide some opportunities through virtual field trips (VFTs) to simulate these experiences, engage students in knowledge production and disciplined inquiry, and have interactions with the…

The current study considers how the structure of peer networks facilitates or constrains children's opportunities to engage in relationally aggressive behaviors such as social exclusion and rumor spreading. Specifically, the influence of two network features, centrality and density, on relational aggression are explored using grade-level…