University enrollment rates have increased substantially both in the U.S. and internationally over the past 40 years. Unfortunately, university completion rates have not kept pace, causing scholars to project that international labor markets may face a deficit in qualified (i.e., bachelors-degree or equivalent) workers. In the U.S., this could…

This study focuses on parents' and teachers' perceptions of practices aimed at easing the transition to formal schooling (e.g., familiarization with the school, discussions about the school entrants). A total of 230 preschool teachers, 131 elementary school teachers, and 2,662 mothers and fathers filled in a questionnaire containing items on how…

Accumulating research has established explicit mathematics instruction as an evidence-based teaching practice. This study utilized observation data from a multi-year efficacy trial to examine the longitudinal effects of a core kindergarten mathematics program on the use of explicit mathematics instruction among two distinct groups of teachers: one…

Accumulating research has established explicit mathematics instruction as an evidence-based teaching practice. This study utilized observation data from a multi-year efficacy trial to examine the longitudinal effect of a core kindergarten mathematics program on the use of explicit mathematics instruction among two distinct groups of teachers: one…

Although academic motivation is an important predictor of academic success, we show that being academically motivated is not equally beneficial for everyone. More specifically, the results indicate that African American students benefit less from being academically motivated than do their White peers, particularly when they report interacting with…

Analyzing data from two nationally representative kindergarten cohorts, we examine the mathematics content teachers cover in kindergarten. We expand upon prior research, finding that kindergarten teachers report emphasizing basic mathematics content. Although teachers reported increased coverage of advanced content between the 1998-1999 and…

We use longitudinal data from Washington State to provide estimates of the extent to which performance on the edTPA, a performance-based, subject-specific assessment of teacher candidates, is predictive of the likelihood of employment in the teacher workforce and value-added measures of teacher effectiveness. While edTPA scores are highly…

This review examines ethnicity reporting in three autism-related journals ("Autism," "Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities," and "Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders") over a 6-year period. A comprehensive multistep search of articles is used to identify ethnicity as a demographic variable in…

Non-parental arrangements for young children serve a dual function as supports for parental activities and educational inputs for children. However, arrangements that are suited to meet families' specific needs and preferences are sometimes in tension with experts' definitions of "quality." Researchers and policymakers increasingly…

Out-of-school, community demographic and family-level variables have an important influence on student achievement as measured by large-scale standardized tests. Studies described here demonstrated that about half of the test score is accounted for by variables outside the control of teachers and school administrators. The results from these…

Using statewide longitudinal teacher survey data collected in 2009 and 2010, this study examined the characteristics of teacher evaluation used to determine performance-related pay (PRP), and the association between PRP and improvement in the practice of constructivist instruction. The study found that 10.9% of middle school mathematics teachers…

This study investigates whether adequate yearly progress (AYP) status, locale, and sector--common variables used to judge the quality of schools--accurately signal true differences in instructional practices in high school mathematics and science. Using data from the High School Longitudinal Study (HSLS), we find the school-to-school variation in…

In 2002, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) called for "highly qualified" teachers in every classroom in order to increase student outcome and provide equitable learning opportunities to all students including poor and minority students. content and pedagogical knowledge before they come into the classrooms. However, research evidence…

Purpose: One bad hiring decision can lead to low student achievement. Research supports that teachers are the most influential factor in student success. As a result, principals' current practice of hiring teachers based on intuition and likeability must change. Given the current high stakes era, principals need reassurance that the teachers they…

In this study, we use the US nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort to examine inequalities in opportunities to learn mathematics. Specifically, we examine the characteristics of US students' elementary school math teachers and the instruction they provide. While our findings are consistent with previous…