In 2012, the United States Department of Education announced the Race to the Top-District grants. One joint award was made to two large educational cooperatives in the same state that together represented 111 mostly rural schools in 22 districts. One of the grant's identified four essential projects was the implementation of personalized learning.…

This study evaluated the implementation and effectiveness of My Math Academy and My Reading Academy, two digital learning programs, in supporting early math and literacy skill development during the 2021-2022 school year in Tyler Independent School District, Texas. In a district where 85% of students were eligible for free and reduced-price meals,…

The Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS) have mandated that Early Head Start (EHS) programs implement coaching experiences for education staff (§ 1302.93, ACF 2016). Therefore, coaching in EHS with the home visitor-as-coachee warrants further attention. Despite multiple calls for coaching home visitors, there remains a lack of research…

College access programs like Upward Bound, GEAR UP, and AVID have long histories in education. Each of these have been thoroughly researched. This research shows mixed results on their effectiveness to improve the college-going nature of their respective participants. Most of the research on these programs is focused on academic outcomes rather…

Kindergarten students in a Title 1 elementary school are lacking school readiness skills. When students enter kindergarten unprepared to learn, they may experience difficulties with approaches toward learning skills related to physical, language, social, emotional, and cognitive development, which are reliable predictors of subsequent academic and…

Modular treatment designs enable interventionists to adapt intervention content to individual clients, a process referred to as individualization. Little is known about individualization processes and its effects on outcomes in early childhood services. This exploratory study investigated individualization processes undertaken by Early Head Start…

Writing is a core school readiness skill, yet preschools typically provide children with limited writing opportunities. To consider how curricular materials guide writing instruction, the five most common Head Start curricula were systematically examined in accordance with the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework. Curricula were coded…

Background/Context: There is a convergence of evidence that the quality of children's early care and education (ECE) experiences is critical for promoting children's development (Gormley, Phillips, & Gayer, 2008). Curriculum combined with professional development is thought to be the "strongest hope" for promoting quality (Weiland…

Eighth grade students at a middle school in a southern state were required a mathematics pass rate of 67.6% to meet annual yearly progress (AYP). Black and Hispanic students performed below the required pass rate on state assessments; thus, the school did not make AYP from 2007-2010. In an attempt to address low test scores in mathematics, the…

The list of 61 finalists for the latest Race to the Top competition shows that the U.S. Department of Education was successful in enticing high-scoring applications from districts in rural America and in states that had not shared in the Race to the Top bounty before. But whether the ultimate winners, which will be announced this month, will be…

This article seeks to examine 2 federally funded early literacy projects, one an Early Reading First demonstration project, the other an Early Childhood Educators Professional Development Research Study. It describes the respective professional development models that include on-site mentoring support to improve teacher quality. The article…

The Oregon Statewide Report Card is an annual publication required by law (ORS 329.115), which reports on the state of public schools and their progress towards the goals of the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century. The purpose of the Oregon Report Card is to monitor trends among school districts and Oregon's progress toward achieving the…

The top priority for the U.S. Department of Education's new Race to the Top-District (RTT-D) competition is to create personalized-learning environments to bolster student achievement: "Absolute Priority 1: Personalized Learning Environments. To meet this priority, an applicant must coherently and comprehensively address how it will build on…

Using concepts from the evaluation literature, this case study describes the instrumental, conceptual, and political influence of the Head Start National Reporting System (NRS) and on-going child assessments in a local Head Start program. This study found that a local program intentionally aimed to limit the influence of the NRS. The NRS validated…

Differentiated instruction, standards-based curriculum, and end of course assessments (ECAs) are not mandated in most high schools across the United States. As such, classroom grades do not accurately reflect district report cards. In particular, grades at the study site, a suburban high school, do not show the specific standards and benchmarks…