Teacher self-efficacy, the belief teachers have that they can make a difference for their students or have a positive impact on their students' academic careers, has been studied for years. Very little is known about teacher self-efficacy in school librarians, however. The following study examined the difference in school librarians' teacher…

During the 2011-2012 academic year, Texas public schools began administering the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) in grades 3-8, replacing the old testing system, the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS). The TAKS-STAAR transition is a unique contextual backdrop for studying the role of state-mandated reading and…

Middle schools are important because they launch students on trajectories that they are likely to follow throughout their formal educations. This study explored the relationship of first-generation segregation (elementary and middle school racial composition) and second-generation segregation (racially correlated academic tracks) to reading and…

As expectations for improvements in public K-12 education continue, principals and teachers need to collaborate for continuous school improvement. Innovative change is needed to meet the needs of students. Michael Fullan's change theory (1993) identified many inhibitors to change, such as the human tendency to avoid change due to vulnerability and…

The purpose of this quantitative correlational explanatory research study was to identify the relationship between lower-achieving children's standardized test scores and the low level of parental involvement in their children's education and to determine whether these variables are associated in students attending a small urban middle school…

The purpose of this study was to determine if special education and at-risk students educated exclusively in a school-within-a-school setting showed improved high-stakes standardized reading test scores after learning the strategic instruction model (SIM) inference strategy. This study was focused on four groups of eighth-grade students attending…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions and beliefs of teachers at a Midwestern suburban middle school about students, student learning, and about teacher's beliefs of their collective abilities to achieve the task of school improvement. Saddleback Middle School (SMS) has experienced low standardized test scores since the…

The purpose of this study was to determine if the four assessments for entrance into an academic middle school gifted English program were accurately predicting success, as measured by students' grades each nine-week grading period. Some students were dismissed from the program each year because they could not maintain the required minimum average…

The study examined the effect of charter school attendance on annual student achievement growth in math and reading. The study analyzed data from a large sample of students in grades three through eight in New York City between 2003 and 2009. The authors matched charter school students to similar students attending traditional public schools based…

The results of the assessment of the emotional intelligence of public school principals, the results of a school quality survey, and students' standardized reading and mathematics test scores from public elementary, middle, and high schools in Hawaii provided the data for determining if there is a relationship between the emotional intelligence of…

This study examined middle school students' reading motivation and its relations to their performance on a standardized test (ISTEP+) in reading. Participants included 388 sixth- and eighth-grade students from two public middle schools. There were 229 females and 159 males. Participants responded to the Reading Motivation Questionnaire after they…

Current methods of combining multiple measures of student performance have been subjective and have lacked evidence of external validity. This study examined the use of predictive discriminant analysis (PDA) as a means of finding the best combination of variables to predict performance on a standards-based mathematics assessment. Data from 261…

Considers the positioning of middle grade readers in standardized reading assessments, analyzing questions and tasks they encounter as they read and respond to standardized test items. Reading tests require children to show that they have understood and accepted a particular kind of positioning as readers. This analysis is contrasted with…

Describes an alternative method of placing students in reading groups which reduces reliance on achievement tests, yet remains manageable enough for large groups of students. Describes the six formal and informal measures used in placement: achievement test scores, IQ scores, attitude scores, current placement, grade in reading, and teacher…

Examines the relationship between a journey and a destination in terms of the educational experience, where learning is the journey but test scores have become the destination. Focuses on the loss of curriculum areas that are untested in favor of the destination of math and reading scores. Asserts that middle school students deserve both measured…