This paper provides evidence on the effect of local prescription opioid use on academic achievement of 3rd-8th graders between 2009 and 2018. Using county fixed effects models, I find that when counties have higher levels of prescription opioid use, students score lower on standardized assessments two to three years later, with variation by…

This paper evaluates a Hungarian gifted education programme aimed at providing equal opportunities for students with social and economic disadvantages. In the context of a retrospective study, the differences in academic success and learning pathways were examined in a cohort comprising a group that participated in the programme and a group that…

This research explored an intersectional pedagogy framework through a yearlong inquiry as a 6th grade English teacher in a charter school for racially and economically marginalized and first-generation students. My study revealed that an intersectional(ity) pedagogy means doing soul work which involves an analysis of self and society toward…

Exploring the factors that benefit academic persistence may facilitate adolescents' positive outcomes to increase the likelihood of future success, especially for adolescents with low family socioeconomic status (SES). Previous research has highlighted the merits of both motivational beliefs (e.g., self-efficacy and interests) and learning…

Data from sub-Saharan Africa show that many students leave school without the skills they need. To address this issue, it is important to understand what factors influence learning. According to the Heyneman and Loxley effect established in 1983, in low income countries school quality influences how much students learn more than those students'…

Background: Adolescent girls are at an increased risk of low physical activity and the associated health consequences. Girls Can Move!, an after-school intervention guided by social cognitive theory, was designed to increase physical activity. Purpose: To examine the feasibility and initial effectiveness of Girls Can Move! Methods The 8-week…

Educators and policymakers have been concerned that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to substantial delays in learning due to disruptions, anxiety, and remote schooling. We study student achievement patterns over the pandemic using a combination of state summative and higher frequency benchmark assessments for middle school students in Michigan.…

Las Americas Middle School is a newcomer program within Houston Independent School District (HISD) that serves students in Grades 4 through 8 who have been in the U.S. for less than one year. As a non-zoned school of choice, Las Americas has no attendance boundary, meaning that students and families must opt to enroll in the school. This brief…

There is a lack of consensus among school districts on how best to mitigate reading and math learning loss during the summer months. The purpose of this quasi-experimental quantitative exploration study was to determine if there was a statistically and practically significant effect of an educational program on summer learning loss in reading and…

The purpose of the current research study was to investigate the extent to which student performance was influenced by the disruption to learning that occurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To explain observed differences in performance, we compared outcomes from a state-wide summative testing program between students who were administered the…

The United States educational system has historically struggled to improve the student outcomes for African American and economically disadvantaged students (Meatto, 2019). This doctoral study analyzed the underlying factors that affected schools' performances in a central Louisiana school system over a five year period. Specifically, this study…

The purpose of this quasi-experimental quantitative exploration study was to determine if there was a statistically and practically significant effect of an educational program on summer learning loss in reading and mathematics in grades five and six students. Also, the study aimed to determine whether growth was impacted by demographic variables…

Early adolescence is a time of rapid cognitive, psychosocial, and physical development, and an array of contextual factors, such as systemic racism, exert significant influence. Universal behavioral health screening data of 4,234 middle school students were examined to explore the influence of demographic (e.g. ethnicity, race) and contextual…

Newcomer programs aim to serve newly arrived immigrant students by providing specialized instruction and nonacademic support beyond what is offered in traditional English learner classrooms. In Houston ISD, Las Americas is a standalone program that serves newcomer students in grades 4-8. Given the growth of newly arrived immigrant students in the…

This study employed a quantitative experimental correlational (action research) design utilizing Pearson's r correlation coefficient to determine whether or not there was a statistically significant relationship between students' socioeconomic status and having a diagnosed disability at one economically disadvantaged public, rural, co-educational…