Purpose: Researchers have developed a constellation model of decodingrelated reading disabilities (RD) to improve the RD risk determination. The model's hallmark is its inclusion of various RD indicators to determine RD risk. Classification methods such as logistic regression (LR) might be one way to determine RD risk within the constellation…

Classroom interactions between students and teachers form a two-way or dyadic network. Measurements such as days absent, test scores, student ratings, or student grades can indicate the "quality" of the interaction. Together with the underlying bipartite graph, these values create a valued student-teacher dyadic interaction network. To…

We study the effect of preferences for boys on the performance in mathematics of girls, using evidence from two different data sources. In our first set of results, we identify families with a preference for boys by using fertility stopping rules in a large population of households whose children attend public schools in Florida. Girls growing up…

There is an extensive body of research establishing measures of oral reading fluency as valid and reliable predictors of important reading outcomes and performance on high stakes tests (Good, Simmons, & Kame'enui, 2001). The present study was conducted to determine whether these findings also apply to the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test…

The purpose of this quantitative correlational research was to investigate to what extent 2007 performance of third grade students who had been retained in 2006 for failing to attain proficiency on the Reading and Mathematics Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) predicted their performance in 2010 on the sixth grade Reading and Mathematics…

Multiple studies propose that English proficiency dictates English language learners' (ELLs) performances on mathematics assessments. The current study investigates the predictive power of English proficiency on mathematics scores, while controlling for gender, socioeconomic status (SES), and grade level among ELLs at a south Florida elementary…

The pressure to have students perform well on standardized tests can serve as a stressor to some teachers in their efforts to autonomously teach their students, particularly those of low socioeconomic status (SES). However, the relationship between teachers' sense of autonomy, teachers' attitudes and behaviors, SES, and student's academic success…

Previous literature has indicated an important association between reading comprehension and both attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and homework habits. This investigation sought to extend previous knowledge by providing information about how ADHD and homework behavior (i.e., completing homework regularly) may jointly influence…

A fairly recent definition of reading disability (RD) is that in the form of a hybrid model. The model views RD as a latent construct that is manifested through various observable unexpected impairments in reading-related skills and through inadequate response to intervention. The current report evaluated this new conceptualization of RD from an…

This study investigated the relationship between the mathematics scores of public middle school students in Miami-Dade County on Florida's standardized test, the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) 2.0, and students' socio-economic status. The study found that SES had a strong correlation with the standardized test mathematics scores (r =…

Federal and state legislation focused on closing the achievement gap, have placed emphasis on providing students with teachers who display specific characteristics. While this has been the mandate, many schools still fail to close the achievement gap and research linking specific teacher characteristics with student achievement, validates the…

Governments are increasingly publishing information about the performance of the services they provide, in part to help citizens hold their elected representatives accountable for government service outcomes. Yet there is little evidence concerning the influence of information about government service performance on voter behavior. This paper…

The present study was designed to explore the association between preschool academic skills and Grade 3 achievement among a sample of ethnically diverse children from low-income families. Data were collected from a sample of 1,442 low-income, ethnically diverse children in preschool and associated with Grade 3 achievement in reading and…

The main focus of this study was to investigate if, or to what extent, there is a significant relationship between high school science course sequencing and proficiency on 11th grade Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) Science. The Florida Legislature mandated a specific number of sciences as a requirement for graduation. High schools…

In accordance with the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law of 2001, 100% of students were expected to become proficient on state assessments of reading and mathematics by the end of 2013-2014 academic year. Schools that consistently failed to meet the NCLB's Adequate Yearly Progress requirements were subject to penalties. In 2011, the U.S.…