Prior to this study, it was not known it was not known if and to what extent the adoption of the Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) predicts fifth-grade academic achievement in math and reading when controlling for baseline achievement in the previous grade for Native American students in rural elementary schools in Northeastern…

Goal setting, in combination with evidence-based interventions, may be a viable intervention component to improve oral reading fluency for struggling readers. The present study examined the efficacy of individualized goal setting on the oral reading fluency rates of upper elementary students who were reading below grade level. Visual analysis of a…

Nearly one in five U.S. students attends a rural school, yet we know very little about achievement gaps and academic growth in rural schools. This study leverages a unique dataset that includes longitudinal test scores for more than five million 3rd to 8th grade students in approximately 17,000 public schools across the 50 states, including…

Achievement disparities between American Indian students and non-American Indian peers are persistent and well documented. Student engagement is a promising target for intervention given its relation to academic achievement. This study investigated the relation between specific teacher practices (opportunities to respond [OTRs], praise, and…

This report examines the academic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) students, with the goal of documenting achievement trends to provide leaders and policymakers with evidence to guide action to address educational inequities for BIPOC students. Using math and reading test data from 2.1 million BIPOC…

The purpose of this study was to examine students' creativity when writing open-ended stories--across ethnicity, gender, and grades. Participants were 139 students, including 67 males and 72 females, from urban and rural areas of the southwestern United States. The students were in third, fourth, and fifth grades and included three ethnicities:…

Office disciplinary referrals (ODR) and classroom exclusions among students from minority backgrounds have been a persistent concern for decades. The purpose of this dissertation was to assess disciplinary characteristics of American Indian students in special education. More specifically, the purpose was to determine (a) the rate at which…

This study focuses on a professional development program for science teachers near or on American Indian reservations in Montana. This program was framed by culturally relevant pedagogy premises and was characterized by instructional strategies and content foci resulting from the intersection between three cultures: tribal, science teaching, and…

Schools and communities across Montana are working hard to ensure that students receive the best education and graduate ready for college and careers. One of the most important components in this effort involves understanding where students are and how schools and communities can best help them achieve at the highest levels. Data is an invaluable…