The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of the Leader in Me philosophy to students' equitable achievement in school, by measuring the academic achievement of third through fifth graders in suburban Missouri public schools. A secondary purpose of the study was to inform teachers and school leaders of effective strategies for…

Despite growing calls for greater inclusivity and cultural responsiveness, little is known about how environmental education (EE) may differentially affect diverse audiences. As part of a national study of 334 environmentally focused day field trips for adolescent youth in the United States in 2018, we examined how outcomes differed for students…

Supporting student wellbeing in schools is increasingly becoming a global priority. However, research and initiatives primarily focus on general wellbeing rather than subject-specific experiences. Given the pervasive levels of mathematics anxiety, negative attitudes, and disengagement in mathematics education, we argue for a more contextualised…

We examined to what extent subgroups of students identified with learning disabilities (LDs; N = 630) in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998 to 1999 (ECLS-K): 1998 national longitudinal study displayed heterogeneity in longitudinal profiles of reading and mathematics achievement from first to eighth grades.…

Providing instruction in multiple languages has the potential to simultaneously help both native English speakers and English learners to develop language proficiency. "Dual language programs" can help native English speakers develop proficiency in a second language and English learners develop proficiency in both their native language…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the progress being made to close the current achievement gap in Kentucky. Guiding the study is the following research question: Which districts are closing racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps at rates that exceed expectations? The authors assess districts' progress in closing racial and…

How do teachers account for homework-related inequalities? Our longitudinal ethnographic study reveals that, despite awareness of structural inequalities in their students' lives, elementary- and middle-school teachers' practices centered the myth of meritocracy. They treat struggles with math homework as products of students' and (particularly in…

Growing evidence suggests that contrary to popular belief, schools mostly do not generate achievement gaps in cognitive skills but, rather, reflect the inequalities that already exist. In the case of socioeconomic status, exposure to school often reduces gaps. Surprisingly little is known, however, about whether this pattern extends to gender gaps…

This study investigates multiple-level antecedents of cyberbullying victimization among early adolescents. Data from the Health Behavior in School-Aged Children, 2009 to 2010 cohort study in the United States were used. The sample included White, Black, Latino, and Asian adolescents, ages 10-14 (N = 8481). Bivariate analysis, logistic regression,…

Teachers' teaching self-efficacy and teachers' feelings of negative affect may be associated with students' academic achievement; however, little is known about how these factors directly affect adolescent students' math and reading achievement. The eighth-grade wave of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study data was used to investigate teacher…

Under the integrated model of General Strain Theory (GST), the present study sought to examine whether delinquent peer association, social control, and negative emotion moderated the relations of distinctive cyberbullying roles with delinquency, as well as whether the moderating effects varied by gender among a nationally representative sample of…

In this dissertation, I examine how two major social programs in Kentucky--state-funded preK and Family Resource and Youth Service Centers--impact children's outcomes across the state, including racial, ethnic, and economic equity through elementary school. In each chapter, I will analyze how early childhood opportunities relate to outcomes…

There is ongoing debate in the United States about just how diverse, inclusive, and equitable the opt-out movement--and grassroots education activism more broadly--has been over the past decade. Today, a prevailing stereotype holds that the opt-out movement predominantly mobilizes white, middle-class, and suburban parents and is therefore a force…

Abundant empirical research points to a significant number of students not going to school across the United States. Further yet, there exists strong research consensus that absenteeism predicts negative and persistent academic outcomes for students. LEAs and related stakeholders have rightly adopted measurement and intervention on student…

In this paper, we use NWEA MAP test data to examine variation in students' achievement and growth during the pandemic across multiple dimensions. Consistent with prior evidence, we find that students' test scores in fall 2021, on average, were substantially below historic averages. Moreover, the average scores of students of color, students…