This article provides an analysis of a data set coming from a two-phase qualitative study that focused on fostering primary students' abstraction of interrelations among quadrilaterals (squares, rectangles, parallelograms, rhombuses, trapezoids). The pilot study consisted of work with eight primary students operating at van Hiele level 2 (e.g.,…

This study explored the usefulness of the open dialogue strategy to help Saudi Arabian primary teachers teach, and fourth-grade students learn, the key biological concept of classification, which is a significant challenge for students to grasp, especially the concept of humans versus animals. The convenience sample comprised N = 84 Grade four…

Supporting students of all levels to move beyond empirical arguments, which employ example based reasoning to endorse universal truths and are thus mathematically invalid, remains a challenging goal in mathematics education. Arguments that make use of generic examples are both mathematically valid and accessible for even young learners. However,…

This paper introduces an approach that uses latent class analysis to identify cut scores (LCA-CS) and categorize respondents based on context scales derived from largescale assessments like PIRLS, TIMSS, and NAEP. Context scales use Likert scale items to measure latent constructs of interest and classify respondents into meaningful ordered…

Purpose: Fourth grade typically involves shifting the instruction from "learning to read" to "reading to learn," which can cause students to struggle. However, early reading intervention guided by assessment has demonstrated effectiveness in preventing later reading difficulties (RD). This study presents a classification and…

Inspired by a "whole child" framing, the current study takes a "whole classroom" perspective to consider classroom practice. Study aims included: (1) presenting a systematic video-based observational coding strategy to concurrently consider practice domains that have implications for learning--cognitive instruction, classroom…

This study aimed to examine metaphorical perceptions of 4th-grade primary school students on the concept of "peace". The study was conducted with Turkish and Syrian students who attend primary schools in Sanliurfa, a city on the west eastern part of Turkey during the fall semester of 2019-2020 academic year. The results of the study…

Describing and measuring instructional quality of mathematics lessons is a common goal amongst mathematics education researchers. Such work takes several forms such as classifying and coding instructional moves and student activity or providing high-level rubric-based scores in relation to categories. In this work, we share an innovative mixed…

Traditionally, the New Zealand Ministry of Education opposed the recognition of dyslexia. However, since 2007, the Ministry of Education's position has started to change, evidenced by the development of a working definition. In 2021 the Ministry of Education released Three Steps in Screening for Dyslexia (TSSD), an assessment protocol designed to…

Student growth percentiles (SGPs) are currently used by several states and school districts to provide information about individual students as well as to evaluate teachers, schools, and school districts. For SGPs to be defensible for these purposes, they should be reliable. In this study, we examine the amount of systematic and random error in…

We present two types of validity evidence to support inferences and decisions about use of easyCBMs in relation to state testing programs. The first type involves the use of Benchmarks in reading to use in making predictions of performance on the Smarter Balanced (SB) test. These predictions can be made both well in advance (several months) or…

This paper uses the commognitive framework to analyse how a group of four primary school students classify odd and even numbers. The findings show how students' reasoning is grounded in their personal uses of "odd" and "even". The students attend to different features of "oddness" and "evenness" and agree on…

Proportional reasoning is a key topic both at school and in everyday life. However, students are often misled by their preconceptions regarding proportions. Our hypothesis is that these limitations can be mitigated by working on alternative ways of categorizing situations that enable more adequate inferences. Multiple categorization triggers…

The purpose of the current research is to determine the effect of changing the English Language Art curriculum on the reading growth of fourth-grade students who attended a public school district located in a suburban community in the Northeastern part of the United States. This ex-post facto study is designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the…

This study reports achievement and growth from kindergarten to fourth grade for three groups of English Learners (ELs): (a) ever-ELs; (b) ELs consistently eligible for service; and (c) EL and Special Education dually-identified students. All three EL groups had lower test scores than never-ELs throughout K-4. In math, ELs grew more than never-ELs…