The National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Urban College (UC) Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program was designed to comprehensively support academically talented low-income students. The program served 45 students between the fall semesters of 2012 and 2015. The primary goals of the program were…

Background: The effects of increases in physical activity (PA) on early literacy skills in preschool children are not known. Methods: Fifty-four African-American preschool children from a low socioeconomic urban Head Start participated over 8 months. A 2-group, quasi-experimental design was used with one preschool site participating in the PA…

In this quasi-experimental study, we assessed the promise of Word Generation, a research-based academic vocabulary program, on improving the reading achievement outcomes of struggling sixth-grade readers in an after-school small group instructional setting. After 34 hours of academic vocabulary instruction, we compared the performance of a…

This quantitative study addresses the problem of reading and behavioral performance in elementary school by examining the impact of a universal preventive intervention on both the proximal and distal outcomes of students in the fourth grade at a mid-western elementary school. These proximal outcomes (disruptions per student per hour) were measured…

The purpose of the present study was to study if purposeful math, science, and technology curriculum projects and activities would support Pre-K children's performance in these subject matter areas. In this study, 58 Pre-K children from 4 Pre-K classrooms in a public Pre-K programme in North Carolina participated. Through a quasi-experimental,…

Close to half of all community college students leave before obtaining their stated goals. In order to determine what student characteristics increase community college student retention, with a heightened interest on the predictive nature of taking a student success course, a post-facto quasi-experimental study was conducted to determine whether…

Increasing numbers of underprepared students are admitted to colleges and universities with aspirations of earning a degree in a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) discipline. Transitioning to college is difficult for all students, but can be especially challenging for the underprepared STEM student. Many of these students are…

Though campus principals must take on many leadership roles, their primary responsibility is to facilitate effective teaching and learning with the overall mission of enhancing student achievement. One way to provide instructional leadership is to evaluate and select effective instructional programs that align with campus goals of improving…

This study investigated the effect of a large group narrative intervention on diverse preschoolers' narrative language skills with aims to explore questions of treatment efficacy and differential response to intervention. A quasi-experimental, pretest/posttest comparison group research design was employed with 71 preschool children. Classrooms…

Efforts to support children in schools require addressing not only academic issues, but also out-of-school factors that can affect students' ability to succeed. This study examined academic achievement of students participating in City Connects, a student support intervention operating in high-poverty elementary schools. The sample included 7,948…

Proficient reading is a necessary skill for a quality life. While educators would like to believe that most students master the art of reading and can understand what they read, national reports indicate that learning to read and becoming a skilled reader is not mastered by all (No Child Left Behind Act, 2001; NICHD, 2000a). One component of…

This quasi-experimental study investigated the effects of an Internet-delivered universally designed depth of vocabulary intervention that targeted both English-speaking and Spanish-English-speaking students. Two hundred forty students, 49% of whom were Spanish-English bilinguals, participated in the 16-week intervention. Intervention students…

The Early College High School (ECHS) initiative developed in response to calls to significantly decrease the number of first-generation college and underserved students of color and from poverty who are high school dropouts or marginally graduates (i.e., ill prepared for college). The ECHS model is different from other educational reforms in that…

The purpose of this ex post facto study was to analyze archive data to investigate the effects of Read 180, a computer-based supplemental reading intervention, on students' academic achievement for the academic school year 2011-2012. Further analyses examined if influences existed in variables such as grade level, gender, and ethnicity of the…

The achievement gap in reading between students of low versus high socioeconomic status (SES) is detrimental to students of low SES who struggle with basic reading skills such as fluency and comprehension. The purpose of this study was to investigate if the systematic use of Read Naturally, a repeated reading fluency-based program, significantly…