In this synthesis, we analyzed 10 prealgebraic reasoning interventions for students with mathematics difficulty (MD) in Grades 6 through 8. All interventions focused on one or more prealgebraic concepts including integer operations, algebraic expressions and equations, and functions. Of the 10 intervention studies, six employed single-case design…

Understanding fractions has been a pervasively difficult skill for struggling math learners, yet it is essential for success in secondary level mathematics skills. The present systematic review examined the evidence base of fraction interventions for elementary level students identified as struggling math learners. Twelve studies met inclusion…

The resegregation of public schools in the United States continues to place African American students at an academic disadvantage with--oftentimes--limited educational resources and fewer qualified teachers. Providing African American students with skills and strategies to succeed has never been more urgent. Metacognition, often defined simply as…

This article considers the topic of motivation for writing, and explores connections between writing interventions and motivation. We review the extant literature with K12 students who participated in writing interventions and examine the motivation outcomes in those studies to determine whether improvements in writing ability also led to…

This review of the literature examines online learning as a core strategy for bold, dramatic curricular reform within transformational or turnaround models in improving low-performing K-12 schools. The analysis of the literature in this area found benefits of online learning in transforming and turning around low-performing schools to include: (a)…

This document presents a review of evidence commissioned by the Education Endowment Foundation to inform the guidance document "Improving Mathematics in Key Stages Two and Three" (Education Endowment Foundation, 2017). The review draws on a substantial parallel study by the same research team, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, which…

Stakeholders are debating the value of cognitively focused instruction for students who have not benefited from a skills-based approach. Much of the discussion, however, is occurring without recognition of research that has been conducted in the past 2 decades. In this article, we reviewed the research. Electronic databases and hard copies of…

This article highlights significant research about what below grade-level reading means in middle school classrooms and suggests a tested approach to improve reading comprehension levels significantly by using audio books. The use of these audio books can improve reading and academic performance for both English language learners (ELLs) and for…

To solve the problems of low achieving students, it is important to change the quality of teaching instruction. Cognitive instruction is presented as a critical component for this large scale-change. Includes extensive references. (MD)

This resource document is one of a series of nine resource documents, each of which addresses a separate factor in the "Assessment of School Needs for Low-Achieving Students" survey that can help determine a student's academic success and each of which contains information that responds to specific survey items. This document addresses the factor…

Background: Almost every aspect of modern life is affected in some way by technology. Many people utilize technology from dawn to dusk to communicate; make decisions; reflect, gain, synthesize, evaluate or distribute information, among many other functions. One would be hard pressed to find a single professional, regardless of career field,…

Student opportunity to learn may be the critical variable in explaining student engagement and subsequent achievement. Lower-ability students are systematically discriminated against in quality of instruction and curricular content and in use of learning time. Suggestions regarding teacher preparation to offset these patterns are made. (MT)

Data on teacher expectation research have revealed that some teachers treat high- and low-achieving students differently and that teachers' expectations appear to be associated with student achievement. (Author)

This paper reviews literature on individualized math instructional techniques with students who have learning disabilities and suggests application strategies for resource teachers and mainstream teachers of low-achieving math students. Techniques described include reinforcement, demonstration plus permanent model, goal setting, and…

Effective intervention strategies for learning disabled students should recognize such cognitive deficiencies as weaknesses in attention, memory deficits, and problems in generalizing and abstracting information. Approaches which emphasize enhanced learning processes include: self-monitoring; repetition and deliberate instruction in control…