Success in ninth grade is essential to a student's success throughout high school. Many high schools retain the traditional science course sequence of teaching biology first to ninth graders who may or may not be cognitively ready for today's biology content. A few school districts in Georgia are offering a flexible science course sequence in the…

The purpose of this within-group experimental study was to find out to what extent ninth-grade students improved their science performance beyond their middle school science performance at one Georgia high school utilizing a freshman academy model. Freshman academies have been recognized as a useful tool for increasing academic performance among…

In order to be successful in an educational setting, a student must acquire a particular register of language specific to academia, or an academic register. It cannot be acquired through ordinary social intercourse. It is specific to school. Acquiring the academic register is the greatest challenge English Learners (EL) face during their academic…

This study examined whether students could learn counterintuitive science concepts by reading and discussing ideas. Ninth graders read texts, answered questions, then completed control activities or engaged in scaffolded discussions. Students who read expository text and students who participated in scaffolded discussion performed better than…