This How-To Guide is designed for school staff who want to implement a personalized messaging intervention to improve student attendance. During the 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic years, the National Center for Rural Education Research Networks (NCRERN) partnered with 47 rural districts in 16 states across the United States to pilot and test…

The evidence suggests that many types of summer learning programs have the potential to reduce summer learning losses and perhaps create learning gains. However, implementing a summer program does not guarantee positive effects on students' learning. A key question then is: What factors make a summer learning program effective? This article, drawn…

This longitudinal, five-year study of teachers and students who had participated in a systemic reform program in science explored if (1) teacher change in practice realized during a three-year program is sustained one, two, and three years following the program, (2) student performance on state science assessments two years following studying with…

This study surveyed 45 selected primary and secondary schools in Botswana which aimed to identify how parent and community involvement in the governance of schools affect teacher effectiveness and improvement of learner performance. The study started from January 2005 to December 2006. Literature review, administration of questionnaires, interview…

This article presents a lesson cycle of activities for teaching reading and writing skills for expository text. The lesson cycle consists of four parts: (1) vocabulary words, (2) text structures, (3) modified sentence completion activity, and (4) rewriting text. Sixth- and seventh-grade summer school students were taught to recognize and…

The Computer-Assisted Study Skills Improvement Program (CASSIP) is designed to help students develop effective study skills and academic attitudes, thus increasing their potential for scholastic success. The program contains four integrated items: Study Skills Surveys; Study Skills Modules, Study Skills Notebook; and Study Skills Test. The surveys…

To provide administrators and teachers with a set of essential elements and principles to consider in using inservice programs for school improvement, this document presents a model comprised of 27 dimensions identified as important elements of effective inservice programs. These dimensions were identified through a review of the research…

No Child Left Behind is one of several factors motivating more and more high schools to work with their students to stay on track to graduating within four years. Unfortunately, research shows that neither by themselves works especially well: retention and social promotion are expensive failures. They are ineffective in improving student learning…

This study examines components of a middle school program designed to enable at-risk students to complete the 3 years of middle school in 2 years, and it looks at the progress of eight graduates of the program during their first semester in high school in South Carolina. Over-age students who entered sixth grade and displayed potential were…

Practices for improving adolescent literacy--which includes reading, writing, and speaking--are much discussed and debated among secondary school educators and researchers. At Discovery Middle School in Madison, Alabama, the debate has ended after teachers and administrators implemented several practices that elevated student achievement from…