This study investigated the long-term impact of the science writing heuristic (SWH) approach on students' science achievement, focusing on differences between low and high socioeconomic status (SES) groups. Through a longitudinal design, students were divided into control and treatment (at least 1 year of SWH) groups. Polynomial growth mixed…

The increased emphasis on STEM related careers and the use of science in everyday life makes learning science content and concepts critical for all students especially for those with disabilities. As suggested by the National Resource Council (2012), more emphasis is being placed on being able to critically think about science concepts in and…

The demand for STEM college graduates is increasing. However, recent studies show there are not enough STEM majors to fulfill this need. This deficiency can be partially attributed to a gender discrepancy in the number of female STEM graduates and to the high rate of attrition of STEM majors. As STEM attrition has been associated with students…

How can classrooms become communities of inquiry that connect intellectually challenging science content with language-based activities (opportunities to talk, listen, read, and write) especially in settings with diverse populations? This question guided a 3-year mixed-methods research study using the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) approach in…

The Title I, Part A program is designed to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and achieve, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging state academic achievement standards and assessments. The program's goal is accomplished by providing supplemental funding for educational…

The Houston Independent School District offers two primary bilingual programs for Spanish-speaking English-language learners (ELLs). In both programs, students may transition into a pre-exit phase of bilingual education so long as they meet certain performance criteria. In this Pre-Exit phase, predominantly English-language instruction is used in…

The technical adequacy of curriculum-based measures in the form of short and simple vocabulary-matching probes to predict students' performance and progress in science at the secondary level was investigated. Participants were 198 seventh-grade students from 10 science classrooms. Curriculum-based measurements (CBM) were 5-min vocabulary-matching…

Poor science achievement has been an educational issue for a number of years. Students with disabilities have traditionally fared worse. Research suggests that students with disabilities may respond better to instruction using an inquiry-based approach vs. traditional textbook instruction when measuring science achievement on standardized…

The purpose of this exploratory two-group pretest-posttest comparative survey study was to determine the effect of a team adviser-advisee academic, behavior, and character mentoring program on the achievement, school engagement, and behavior outcomes of eighth grade students determined to be above (n = 21) and below (n = 15) eligibility guidelines…

The Annual Condition of Education Report provides a wide range of state-level data, including shifts in student populations and demographics, teacher salaries and characteristics, student achievement results, and school financial information. The report provides important metrics to the education community about the status of the education system.…

This is a research brief of a longer report, also published as "Bilingual Education and English as a Second Language Summary Report, 2009-2010". Twenty-nine percent of students enrolled in Austin Independent School District were English language learners in 2009-2010. The majority of them (62%) continued to make progress in English…