Understanding equivalence is fundamental to STEM disciplines, yet misunderstandings and misconceptions inhibit students from fully appreciating or leveraging the concept. Using the game-based algebraic notation system, From Here to There! (FH2T), students explore ideas of equivalence by dynamically transforming expressions or equations among…

Argumentation is an important mathematical practice, highlighted by research and policy documents that describe ways to structure reform-oriented classrooms (Nardi and Knuth 2017; NCTM 2000; NGA Center and CCSSI 2010). Participating in argumentation can enhance students' mathematics learning as they make sense of mathematical ideas, provide…

A better understanding of the ways in which school leaders frame collaboration is needed, as the framing of reform efforts plays a large role in steering change. This study explores how leaders' frames for collaboration intersect with teachers' collaborative work in four urban middle schools over time. Findings demonstrate the role of…

The middle school years can be exciting and confusing for young adolescent students. Thus it is important for teachers, administrators, and school professionals to create a unique classroom and school culture that meets their needs. Creating a positive classroom culture that supports young adolescents through social, physical, and academic…

In using wordless picture books, teachers enhance the reading experience while fostering, nurturing, and broadening students' reading and writing skills. Wordless picture books are accessible to "all" students. They encourage and require readers to slow down as they inhabit and comprehend the story told through art, symbolism, and…

Twenty-first-century students require support beyond the traditional confines of public K-12 education. Students are arriving at the doors of schools with challenges outside of the learning environment that impact their ability to achieve academic success. This dissertation conducts a program evaluation of a multimodal intervention program at a…

Organic chemistry, also known as stereochemistry, is a subject considered to be notably complex for students to understand. Knowledge construction in stereochemistry might demand the ability to imagine or visualise the distribution of atoms. For students with insufficient spatial ability, this could be confusing. This study aimed to explore…

As an example of how historical events may influence the findings and interpretations of a randomized trial, we use a school-based evaluation of a classroom management program that was conducted in a nearby district before and after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri (N = 102 teachers and 1,450 students). The findings suggest that…

The present study reports findings from a school-level randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the Double Check cultural responsivity and student engagement model. Consistent with the focus of this special issue on the conceptual and methodological advances for understanding contextual, identity, and cultural effects in intervention research, we…

Almost all educational systems still rely on traditional teaching methods: children must absorb huge uncorrelated amounts of information from various disciplines, multidisciplinary aspects are not developed, the fun factor is missing in most of the classes. Many children sometimes do not fully understand the presented theoretical concepts and…

This paper uses quantitative analytics to study talk-based participation in 100 mathematics classrooms across one racially diverse urban school district in the USA. Using the EQUIP observation tool and hierarchical linear modeling, we characterize the quantity and quality of participation for students across 3025 coded turns, by race and gender.…

Academically gifted students or high potential learners don't feel challenged in regular classrooms. Teachers in schools are also not quipped with pedagogical interventions to meet the advanced learning needs of gifted students. Mentoring is considered an effective method to guide, motivate and optimize learning abilities of gifted students. The…

Teaching middle school students with learning disabilities strategies for writing essays that incorporate information from source texts helps prepare them for academic success. The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate the effects of self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) writing instruction using technology tools implemented by…

Research has been conducted on the science of reading and how students learn to read. This knowledge has not increased reading achievement in middle school. Reading scores in grades 6-8 across America are declining. The gap for students with disabilities is widening. Luhmann's Systems Theory provided a framework for understanding an organization…

This research was conducted to determine the perceptions of pre-service teachers and middle school students towards mathematics teachers. For this purpose, the perceptions of both the pre-service teachers and students regarding six mathematics teachers were discussed comparatively. The research method is case study. The data of this study were…