The study's purpose was to determine the effectiveness of charter school programs in increasing academic achievement in students with disabilities who received special education services within one charter management organization. The study reviewed student achievement on a state standardized assessment in ELA and Mathematics. Relationships…

Survey research examined the extent to which teacher knowledge and training in differentiated instruction (DI) predicted student achievement. The research examined the independent variables (IV) DI knowledge, training, and instructional strategies for effect on dependent variables (DV) ELA and Math student achievement scores. Using a survey…

This study examined 94 bilingual and emergent bilingual 10th grade students' perspectives on multimodal composing for academic purposes in their English Language Arts class. A social semiotics theoretical framework was employed to understand students' views of the affordances and constraints when composing three digital multimodal projects--a…

We know from previous research that teacher questions can influence reading comprehension development; however, we know less about the reading processes that are required of students through the use of questions. The present study examines teacher questions on texts reviewed during whole class reading comprehension instruction across 51 lessons in…

Background: Students form interpersonal and intrapersonal classroom social experiences with peers. While diverse intervention programmes have been developed, few have integrated social-emotional learning into academic activities to maximize the potential for learning and development. Aims: This study examined the effects of collaborative…

This practical book provides teachers with step-by-step guidance for developing a class culture that welcomes curiosity and ignites social action. Student-driven inquiry has a lasting impact on learning, yet questions posed from students' own contexts rarely serve to shape their understanding of the outside world. The authors show teachers how to…

Purpose: The purpose of this two-part research was to investigate the effect of remote learning on student progress in elementary education. Part one, presented in this paper, examined achievement differences between learners in a fully remote learning environment and those in a hybrid setting. Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative,…

Many states and school districts in the United States use standardized test scores to compute annual measures of student achievement progress and then use school-level averages of these growth measures for various reporting and diagnostic purposes. These aggregate growth measures can vary consequentially from year to year for the same school,…

Preparation and professional development can help principals be more effective leaders, but little research has examined what specific approaches are most useful. A study of 462 California principals and the teachers and students in their schools shows that high-quality preservice preparation for principals is associated with stronger teacher…

This dissertation is comprised of three essays, each examining a different topic in labor economics. In Chapter 1, I examine the productivity and selection effects of K-12 teacher tenure by leveraging variation from New Jersey's TEACHNJ Act. This law extended the pre-tenure period from three to four years and allowed districts to dismiss…

Reading comprehension in high school involves students developing knowledge, skills, and experiences to understand, retain, and apply concepts of English as a written language. For ninth grade students to gain mastery in reading comprehension, ninth grade teachers implemented scaffolding teaching techniques to support their students. This study…

This research was based on culturally relevant pedagogy, a teaching method that promotes academic and cultural achievement in environments where student dissatisfaction and antagonism are prevalent. Educational accomplishment, cultural competence, and social consciousness were the foundations of this philosophy (Ladson-Billings, 1994, 1995, 2009,…

We examined the additive associations of two motivational beliefs (growth mindset and academic self-efficacy) and self-regulation with mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA) scores, as well as the interplay of students' beliefs and self-regulation skills, controlling for previous test scores. We tested whether these pathways differed across…

Teacher education programs (TEPs) are responsible for preparing educators to use and align pedagogical approaches that are conducive for student learning regardless of race, class, ethnicity, gender or socioeconomic status. Drawing from seminal literature on teacher preparation, this conceptual manuscript examined microaffirmations as a culturally…

Looking closely at lesson plans as mediating tools, this study examines preservice teacher learning. By using activity theory in our analysis of lesson plans and other data collected in a student-teaching course, we uncovered tensions within/across the contexts of university teacher education program and secondary school field placements. This…