The goal of Smithsonian Science for North and South Carolina Classrooms was to provide teachers with ongoing, differentiated professional development and research-based curricular materials to improve elementary student achievement in science, mathematics, and reading. This work used an inquiry-based science curriculum, Smithsonian Science for the…

As a result of federal and state laws, it is necessary to identify an accurate predictor of student achievement before administering the state-mandated test. School districts are increasingly administering "benchmark assessments" throughout the year to measure students' progress and provide teachers with data about adjusting instruction.…

This study looked at any potential effect of early childhood education on future academic success for economically disadvantaged students. The early childhood education program used in this study was the pre-kindergarten program that the state of Texas uses in most of its elementary schools. This program is federally funded, and district run. This…

The purpose of this quantitative, ex post facto study was to determine the difference in students' LEAP ELA achievement scores in grades 3-5 based on the teacher's level of dyslexia knowledge. This study used the Phonological Deficit Theory (PDT) and the Criterion Referenced Assessment Theory (CRT) as its foundation. PDT describes the levels of…

As result of several federal policies over the last few decades, accountability measures for student learning and success have increased tremendously. Therefore, many school districts, including East Tennessee School District which was the subject of this study, implemented district-wide benchmark testing such as the Collaborative Assessment…

Over the last 62 years, mathematics reform has occurred due to a political push after results from a major survey or report were released stating that the United States scored lower than other countries. With each reform effort, teaching methods were changed to match the new initiative. Math curriculum was a key point in each of these reform…

A person-centered approach was used to explore how preschool school readiness profiles predict Grade 3 academic performance among a large (N = 43,044) low-income, ethnically-diverse longitudinal sample of children. Study aims: (a) determine the number and type of preschoolers' school readiness profiles, (b) determine how profile membership relates…

This qualitative case study addressed instructional practices used by third-grade teachers teaching at Title I schools to provide strategies to teach higher-order thinking skills in reading comprehension. In Texas, third-grade students were required to take the reconstructed STAAR assessment at the end the 2022-2023 school year. The teachers…

Analyzed in this investigation were the current Texas state-mandated assessments in reading and the extent to which test scores differed among English Language Learners who were Not Poor (i.e., did not qualify for the reduced or free lunch program), English Language Learners who were Moderately Poor (i.e., qualified for the reduced lunch program),…

National, state, and local governmental authorities have researched and reported the impacts of poverty on academic performance for multiple decades, providing guidance, legislation, accountability, equal access initiatives, and continuous monitoring for educators to address the ongoing dilemma. However, poverty performance achievement gaps are…

Explanatory patterns regarding situational differences in reading comprehension performance may be best captured by multidimensional reader profiles. Data from 56 third- and fifth-grade students were collected to investigate the applicability, scope, and convergent validity of a reader profiling scheme based on Alexander's (2005) reader profile…

Pioneer Valley Books (PVB) contracted McREL International to investigate the effects of the third grade Literacy Footprints (LFP) guided reading system on English language arts (ELA) performance on state assessments. LFP is a research-based, comprehensive, small-group literacy tool that facilitates explicit and systematic guided reading…

Acadience Reading (AR) is a screener for early detection of reading problems in elementary students. Limited research exists, however, on its technical adequacy for evaluation of English Learners (ELs). In this study, we tested the long-term predictive validity and diagnostic accuracies of AR and examined the differences between native…

Purpose: Researchers have developed a constellation model of decodingrelated reading disabilities (RD) to improve the RD risk determination. The model's hallmark is its inclusion of various RD indicators to determine RD risk. Classification methods such as logistic regression (LR) might be one way to determine RD risk within the constellation…

Standardized assessment is the government measurement of academic success in Texas. Currently, students in Grades 3-11 participate in the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) as a measure of their comprehension of the state standards. In high school, students are required to pass the high school STAAR End of Course test in…