We compared the effects of different "mastery" criteria and doses on the acquisition and maintenance of sight words for 4 second graders with and without disabilities. First, we replicated Set Analysis and Operant Analysis conditions where participants were taught sight words in 20-trial (4 operants, 5 opportunities) sessions.…

The study examines the validity of four commonly used early numeracy curriculum-based measurement (EN-CBM) tools in relation to math criterion measures. Additionally, the investigation examines the reporting quality of the included studies as related to important features of assessing CBM's technical adequacy. For inclusion in the meta-analysis,…

The teaching staff is one of the most significant factors determining the quality of education. Therefore, improving the quality of teaching staff is always considered by governments. The criteria of teacher competence, the basis for evaluating teachers as well as the basis for teachers to improve their capacity, is one of the factors to promote…

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…

Our global era invites research on teacher reflection that is grounded in local contexts and enriched by cross-regional collaborations. Teacher professionalism is a shared global interest that is shaped by unique cultural factors in local settings. This study examines Chinese and U.S. undergraduate teacher education student views on the criteria…

Building "happy schools" has been one of the key concerns by many countries in recent years with an aim to create a friendly, safe, and happy teaching and learning environment so that teachers and students can have more motivation in improving their teaching and learning achievements, thus bringing forth more happiness to the involved…

In the world of gifted education, educators must first find students who qualify for gifted services. Various stakeholders in public elementary education often nominate students for gifted identification and ultimately gifted programs. It is important to determine if stakeholders' conceptions of giftedness are the same or different, as conceptions…

This article demonstrates the distortions arising from attempts to impose a rigid set of criteria on teacher assessment. The use of surface features of syntax and punctuation to determine grades created a situation where children's writing became artificial and lacking in interest.

In this article, Megan Shenton, a final-year trainee teacher at Nottinghom Trent University, describes using "The Big Question" in her science teaching in a move away from objectives. The Big Question is an innovative pedagogical choice, where instead of implementing a learning objective, a question is posed at the start of the session…

Since nearly every science curriculum in the country contains a section on living and non-living things, Bill Robertson believes that pretty much anyone who has taught the subject has run into difficulties. It seems as if no matter what criteria you use to distinguish between the two you can nearly always find exceptions. This article provides a…

For decades, schools have played a pivotal role in providing physical activity opportunities to children. For many students, school-time physical activity serves as the primary source of activity, via activity clubs, classroom physical activity breaks, and family health awareness nights. The purpose of this article is to describe how three schools…

In response to the recent sharp increase of L2 students in Reykjavik schools, allocation criteria for special L2 services were adopted that were based on length of residence and on whether children's home language was tonal or not tonal. This study set out to evaluate the appropriateness of these criteria, and to replicate previous findings of a…

This study examined the retention policies, practices, and interventions in school districts in 4 counties in Southern California. It was based on a study conducted by Olds (2008). A content analysis of retention policies and practices in 9 elementary (K-6) districts found that districts used the state's Pupil Promotion and Retention regulations…

Fluent word reading is hypothesized to facilitate reading comprehension by improving automatic word reading, thus releasing a reader's cognitive resources to focus on meaning. Many students with learning disabilities (LD) struggle to develop reading fluency, which affects reading comprehension. This synthesis extends Chard, Vaughn, and Tyler's…

Employing longitudinal, multisite comparative mixed-methods, we describe patterns of reclassifying and not reclassifying eligible English learner (EL) students to fluent English proficient, and we identify factors impeding and facilitating reclassification. Analyses of administrative data for 7 cohorts of students over 3 years in one district and…