We evaluated the reliability and validity of two oral reading fluency scores for 1-minute equated passages: median score and mean score. These scores were calculated from measures of reading fluency administered up to five times over the school year to students in grades six to eight (n = 1,317). Both scores were highly reliable with strong…

This qualitative study investigates the extent to which urban middle-school science teachers' beliefs about their students' astronomy learner characteristics were influenced by their partnership with an astronomer in their classroom. Twelve urban middle-school science teachers were interviewed after their participation in Project ASTRO during the…

As art objects, picturebooks have the potential to contribute to readers' aesthetic development. Many scholars and practitioners have recognized how using picturebooks with older students can augment their reading motivation and extend their understanding of visual elements of art and design, as well as develop their literacy, language, and…

Youth with elevated conduct disorder (CD) symptoms who also have callous-unemotional (CU) traits exhibit more antisocial behavior than youth without CU traits. However, evidence regarding whether CU traits increase risk of substance use over and above CD symptoms, and whether these associations differ for boys and girls, is scarce. Using the…

Writing allows students to clarify their thinking. Through the process of writing, students recognize what they know and what they still need to learn. This article describes how a middle school mathematics teacher and language arts teacher worked with a secondary content area literacy professor during a specific writing assignment. The "How-to"…

This article features the Preuss School UCSD which is considered as unique in a number of ways, among them are its unusual name and requirements for admission. The school was named in recognition of a substantial bequest from the Preuss Family Foundation that was earmarked to establish a charter school on the campus of the University of…

The process of developing definitions is underemphasized in most mathematics instruction. Investing time in constructing meaning is well worth the return in terms of the knowledge it imparts. In this article, the authors present a third approach to "defining," called "constructive." It involves modifying students' previous understanding of a term…

Middle-school students are expected to understand key components of graphs, such as slope and y-intercept. However, constructing graphs is a skill that has received relatively little research attention. This study examined students' construction of graphs of linear functions, focusing specifically on the relative difficulties of graphing slope and…

Focusing specifically on adolescents forced to relocate after Hurricane Katrina, the study looks closely at the role of schools in helping adolescents adapt after a natural disaster. Data collected from 46 middle and high school students across a 6-month period demonstrate that those who showed the greatest improvements in their well-being were…

This article presents an analysis showing how collegial interactions can augment the mechanism of teachers' learning from professional development. The analysis relies on social network data and self-reports of writing instructional practices from teachers in 20 different schools that were part of a longitudinal study of the National Writing…

For the forty-third time, the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented online during the annual AECT Convention. Volume 2 contains 15 papers dealing the practice of instructional technology including instruction and training…

In this study, candidates at two universities in the southeastern United States engaged in service-learning projects that investigated the effects of service learning on pre-service teachers' understanding of the unique characteristics of young adolescents from diverse backgrounds and knowledge of middle level professional roles. Data were…

While there has been encouraging growth in the number of expanded school mental health programs (ESMH) across the country, few programs rigorously evaluate long-term academic outcomes associated with receipt of these services. This study examined the effects of services from an ESMH program on school behavior (number of out-of-school suspensions…

Many students with disabilities have written language production deficits. As a result, these students are failing to meet the demands of government-initiated standards, higher education, and employment. In this review, quantitative experimental intervention studies for improving persuasive, narrative, and expository compositions for adolescents,…

This study looked at a life science course that was offered at and taught by education staff of a large informal science institution (ISI) located in the Midwest. The curriculum, materials, and agendas for the course were developed by education staff and complemented a permanent life science exhibition. The researcher developed a content test…