Goal orientation beliefs, self-efficacy, and beliefs about the role of the teacher in mathematics learning have been known as important factors in promoting students' success in mathematics. Beliefs can be shaped through four principles: mastery experience, vicarious experience, social persuasion, and physiological state. This study examined the…

Research suggests that current teachers' writing instruction does not prepare students for the demands of college and career writing, a problem that has persisted for decades. The purpose of this survey study of third- and fifth-grade teachers (N=159) across the U.S. was 1) to determine changes in teachers' frequency teaching writing using a set…

The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine if and to what extent, Title I Status, the Number of Years teachers have taught at the current school, and/or the Level of Teacher Education predict the Teacher Perception of Distributed Leadership in central Florida public elementary schools. Research focused on the theoretical…

The purpose of this mainly descriptive study was to investigate teachers' perceptions about how they teach writing as well as their beliefs about preparation and efficacy to teach this skill. It also examined if preparation and efficacy beliefs along with teaching experience (years teaching the language arts) predicted teachers' reported writing…

Self-report data have contributed to a rich understanding of learning and motivation; yet, self-report measures present challenges to researchers studying students' experiences in small-group contexts. Rather than using self-report data alone, we argue that fusing self-report and observational data can yield a broader understanding of students'…

Education utilizes group work to increase social development, engagement, and learning outcomes of students in a less traditional way (Baines, Blatchford, & Kutnik, 2016). However, classroom research claims social status can influence the participation and engagement of group members, creating issues of inclusiveness and equity (Cohen, 1994).…

Background: The acquired skill set prior to school entry has emerged as an important issue in research and policy internationally. Much evidence exists advocating the importance of early numeracy and literacy skills in later academic achievement and economic outcomes of students. Aim: The goal of this study was to determine the association between…

Symbolic interaction and stage-environment fit theories were used to examine associations between several aspects of the perceived school environment and youths' school-related experiences during the first semester of middle school in a sample of 390 youth living in a southeastern U.S. county. Perceived school environment included learning…

This study investigates the capacity of children to develop map-based skills in spatial orientation in an urban environment unknown to them. In this quantitative study, a total of 328 pupils of grades 3-5 had to achieve specific skills with regard to map-based skills in spatial orientation (such as turning-off skills, transformation from map to…

Student achievement of fifth-grade students in 106 Georgia public schools in CRCT reading and mathematics was examined as a function of five characteristics of teachers and schools. The five independent variables used as predictors of CRCT scores were Title I status, teachers' education level, teachers' average years of experience, class size, and…

American Indians have the largest high school dropout rates of all ethnic groups in the United States. Though drop outs technically occur in high school, they actually begin with lowered academic achievement during elementary school years. Looking to mothers as the primary caretakers, this study sought to explore the correlations between American…

The purpose of this study was to determine if principal tenure, principal stability, and principal educational experience in public education along with school-level variables predicted elementary school student achievement. A second purpose was to examine whether there was a significant difference between (a) levels of principal tenure and levels…

The purpose of the current study was to determine the relationship, if any, regarding school districts' teachers' average years of service, number of years of implementation of the CSCOPE math curriculum, and student achievement on the STAAR (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness) mathematics scores in Grades 5 and 8. The STAAR is the…

This study investigated the effects of teacher sense of efficacy for literacy instruction on reading achievement in grades three through eight. In previous studies, a teacher's sense of efficacy was shown to be correlated to student achievement (Ashton & Webb, 1986; Moore & Esselman, 1992). However, research attempting to uncover the…

Background: Educational outcomes for language minority (LM) children are of great concern across the nation because these students have lower grades, are rated by their teachers as having lower skills, perform worse on standardized tests, and are more likely to drop out than are non-LM students. Given this context of underperformance, there is a…