The study examines the perspectives of using the Desmos calculator of Algebra I students' conceptual understanding and procedural fluency to write, graph, and solve linear equations in Algebra I STAAR. While the students have continuously used technology for mathematics assessment, emergent bilingual students in South Texas still need help passing…

Since the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act required classifications of students' performance levels, test scores have been used to measure students' achievement; in particular, test scores are used to determine whether students reach a proficiency level in the state assessment. Accordingly, school districts have started using benchmark assessments…

This quantitative study evaluated how teaching models for language acquisition--the Integrated, the Stand-Alone and the Mixed Model--and student characteristics--gender and disability status--relate to growth in language skills among ELL students. In this study, the New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test scores of the…

School districts choose programs based on limited data, word of mouth, or cost-effectiveness. STEM-based schools often choose project-based learning (PBL) programs to deliver curricula through limited research and word of mouth effectiveness. This study evaluated one PBL program implementation in the context of a suburban Texas middle school by…

Cognitive diagnostic models can uncover students' mastery of multiple fine-grained skill attributes or problem-solving processes. A number of studies have applied cognitive diagnostic models to detect students' knowledge mastery in mathematics and language testing. However, few studies focus on cognitive diagnostic assessment in K-12 science…

As students' reading proficiency gaps persist across the United States, educational leaders have turned to alternative methods to foster effective instructional literacy practices. One approach to combat this dilemma is the implementation of scripted reading programs. The purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of scripted reading…

This paper describes the effects of workers' investments in their own education in light of the complementarity the Acemoglu (1997) and Redding (1996) showed to exist between R&D and education investments. Despite the different investment efforts that economies pour into their economies, many developing, and least developed countries are…

This dissertation aims to investigate the effect size measures of differential item functioning (DIF) detection in the context of cognitive diagnostic models (CDMs). A variety of DIF detection techniques have been developed in the context of CDMs. However, most of the DIF detection procedures focus on the null hypothesis significance test. Few…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the implementation phase of the DuFour model of professional learning communities (PLCs) and students' achievement. A survey was emailed via Qualtrics to elementary principals throughout the Minnesota Elementary Principals' Association's (MESPA) central, northern, northeast, west,…

The purpose of this longitudinal, mixed methods quasi-experimental study was to investigate the impact of balanced literacy coaching on teacher efficacy, practices, beliefs, and student achievement. The participants were third- through sixth-grade teachers from five elementary schools within the same south suburban Chicago public school district.…

A primary purpose of cognitive diagnosis models (CDMs) is to classify examinees based on their attribute patterns. The Q-matrix (Tatsuoka, 1985), a common component of all CDMs, specifies the relationship between the set of required dichotomous attributes and the test items. Since a Q-matrix is often developed by content-knowledge experts and can…

This quantitative, quasi-experimental research study was designed to determine the impact of a computer assisted reading instruction program on the fluency rates and comprehension skills of third and fourth grade students with reading disabilities at an Ohio suburban-metropolitan elementary school. Pretests established the participants' baseline…

The price of not being English proficient in the United States is costly. A study using 2000 census data showed that people who were not English proficient experienced lower earnings than those who spoke only English (Community and Regional Development Estate, 2005). The cost of being a non-proficient English speaker has the potential to decrease…

This three-article dissertation considers the pedagogical practices for developing statistically literate students and teaching data-driven decision-making with the goal of preparing students for civic engagement and improving student achievement. The first article discusses a critical review of the literature on data-driven decision-making…

Data mining has been successfully used by financial and retail companies since the mid-1960's to create predictive models and reveal unexpected relationships. However, it remains underutilized as a tool in educational research. Large-scale standardized assessment programs such as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)…