The current study was a longitudinal quasi-experimental quantitative study conducted to determine whether or not targeted small-group intervention impacted learning loss relative to the COVID-19 pandemic at a North Texas Title 1 elementary school. Reading and math benchmark and practice test scores from a cohort of 38 fifth-grade students at the…

Surveys such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) enable educators, policymakers and the wider community to compare Australian students with each other, as well as their counterparts across the…

This longitudinal study used regression path models to predict the influence on students' reading comprehension ability of three self-perception variables (reading self-concept; reading/English effort; academic self-handicapping); three teacher rating behaviour variables (attentive behaviour; sociable behaviour; and settled behaviour) and past…

The study aimed to identify significant disparities in the reading growth of English learners (ELs) enrolled in either push-in or pull-out EL services, as measured by the ACCESS and MAP assessments. Conducted at a middle school in southwestern Illinois, the research focused on the impact of different EL programming types on the reading performance…

Educators use reading comprehension assessments to summarize academic achievement, make decisions in diagnostic evaluations, and identify intervention needs. A challenge, however, with using different assessments in practice is that student performance may change depending on which assessment is administered. This article guides educators in…

Low levels of mathematics and reading skills are associated with a range of negative outcomes in life, including reduced employment and earnings, and poor health. This review examines the impact of a broad range of school-based interventions that specifically target students with or at risk of academic difficulties in Grades K-6. The students in…

This dissertation is a three-piece dissertation, including two empirical research (Chapter 1 and Chapter 2) and a methodological improvement of prior work (Chapter 3), to address issues of the effects of approaches to learning on academic achievement in childhood and power analysis for a three-level model in meta-analysis. Approaches to learning…

Secondary schools have the responsibility of producing graduates who are college and career ready. This requirement causes schools to focus on all populations, including those who are at-risk of disengaging in learning and dropping out of school. For years, schools have implemented various reform models to address the needs of at-risk student…

This ex post facto correlational study assessed the effectiveness of an ILS, i-Ready Instruction, on student growth in the elementary school setting. The existing limited independent research has not supported the claims that the creators of i-Ready Instruction have made regarding increasing student achievement or growth. Based on the results from…

In this paper we investigate the link between the language in which pupils take the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) test and the scores they achieve in this assessment, focusing upon the case of Wales. Using five rounds of PISA data and an instrumental variable approach, we show how pupils who took the test in Welsh score…

This study proposes a two-stage causal modeling with instrumental variables to mitigate selection bias, provide correct standard error estimates, and address nonnormal and missing data issues simultaneously. Bayesian methods are used for model estimation. Robust methods with Student's "t" distributions are used to account for nonnormal…

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to uncover how high-achieving university Spanish instructors engage in the core practice of building a classroom discourse community at a doctoral-level university in the southwestern United States. The second goal of this study was to determine whether student performance on reading and writing…

The validity of inferences made with test results depends on meeting the assumptions of the test users, one of which is the presumption of optimal performance (i.e., test-takers are doing their best). Flow theory identifies the conditions under which optimal performance is achieved and can be used to inform test users about the degree to which…

Reading motivation is an important factor that can predict reading performance in elementary school. The present study aimed to investigate whether reading motivation could mediate the relationship between reading skills at the beginning of school and reading performance in the middle of elementary school. Longitudinal data from 979 students (52%…

Few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of a negotiated syllabus on the reading skill of learners. The present study attempts to establish if a negotiated syllabus had any effect on the reading achievement of female EFL learners at intermediate level English proficiency. The study was conducted with the participation of 61 learners placed…