The New York State Education Department (NYSED) has a partnership with NWEA for the development of the 2024 Grades 3-8 English Language Arts Tests. Teachers from across the State work with NYSED in a variety of activities to ensure the validity and reliability of the New York State Testing Program (NYSTP). The 2024 Grades 3 and 4 English Language…

This multiple-baseline design study examined the effects of the Good Behavior Game (GBG) on class-wide academic engagement in online general education classrooms. Teachers in three third- through fifth-grade classrooms in the state of New York implemented the GBG remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Treatment integrity was supported using…

Community mapping can be an important tool for educators who aim to freely allow students to share their own connections and experiences. During community mapping, students identify areas within their own localities that matter to them, and engage in various literacy events centered on those places. Often, classes will study foreign lands and…

This exploratory case study used purposive sampling to explore how third-grade students' reading identities in one suburban western New York school classroom are impacted by social negotiation. It found that social negotiation, literacy practices, the notion of a chapter book "benchmark," personal reading histories and book access, and…

The purposes of this study were to identify if correlations exist between the eight sub-components of visual perception including eye hand coordination, position in space, copying, figure ground discrimination, spatial relations, visual closure, visual motor speed and form constancy, and handwriting ability. The studies also further determined…

Lesson study, especially when conducted with support from targeted resources, is often identified as a potentially effective means to support teacher learning. In this study, 80 school-based teams of educators, representing 80 classrooms of third- or fourth-grade students in the US, were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: lesson study…

The purpose of this study was to investigate developmental music aptitude with a broader sample in order to propose national norms. Research questions were: 1) To what extent are published Primary Measures of Music Aptitude (PMMA) norms different from those established using a current sample? 2) Are there comparative differences in PMMA item…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study explores how teachers described their perceptions within a mandated reading program, as the program supported reading comprehension skills for students in second, third, and fourth grade at three public elementary schools in Upstate New York. The theoretical foundation of this study was established…

Results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP; National Center for Education Statistics, 2020) have shown that despite efforts to raise the literacy skill levels of students in elementary school, the average reading scores for fourth-grade students in 2019 were still cause for concern. The NAEP data showed the reading scores in…

This brief provides an overview of the four attendance-focused interventions districts partnering with the National Center for Rural Education Research Networks (NCRERN) implemented and evaluated through randomized controlled trials in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years. The tested interventions were personalized messaging, mentoring, family…

This qualitative study examined how elementary school leaders from K-5 schools in eastern New York addressed contextual factors in implementing and sustaining professional learning communities (PLCs). Senge (1990) posited structures need to be in place to create and facilitate collaborative communities. A complementary position presents…

Teachers across the United States have implemented the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in math since their release in 2010. These standards were created for all students, both in general education and special education settings; yet, the findings of this study showed one set of standards for every student does not make every student…

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) has a partnership with Questar Assessment Inc. (Questar) for the development of the 2020 Grades 3-8 Mathematics Tests. Teachers from across the State work with NYSED in a variety of activities to ensure the validity and reliability of the New York State Testing Program (NYSTP). The 2020 Grades 3-5…

The New York State Education Department (NYSED) has a partnership with Questar Assessment Inc. (Questar) for the development of the 2019 Grades 3-8 English Language Arts Tests. Teachers from across the State work with NYSED in a variety of activities to ensure the validity and reliability of the New York State Testing Program (NYSTP). The 2019…

In 2015 an urban school district reported that 84.6% of third graders did not demonstrate proficiency on the Math Standardized Test, which challenges students to solve problems and justify solutions. Since 2006 there has been a negative trend of proficiency levels on the New York State (NYS) Math Exam in third grade. I propose that students may be…