In this article, the author shares her experience with a student whose parents had immigrated from China. One parent spoke English, but the other parent did not--which led to them sometimes feeling isolated from their child's educational experience. This understanding enabled the author to adapt her school's communication methods to better meet…

We examine the dynamic nature of student-teacher match quality by studying the effect of having a teacher for more than one year. Using data from Tennessee and panel methods, we find that having a repeat teacher improves achievement and decreases absences, truancy, and suspensions. These results are robust to a range of tests for student and…

This study compared the academic achievement and teacher-student relationship of students who remained with the same teacher for two consecutive years in so-called looping classrooms (n = 98), to their peers in traditional one-year classrooms (n = 94). Contrary to prior research on the topic, this study used a strict protocol to ensure that…

This concurrent multi-phase mixed methods study investigated whether indicators of Social Cognitive Theory could be observed in Grades 3-5 classrooms and if these indicators could be used to describe teacher effectiveness in high poverty schools. The conceptual framework drew upon Bandura's (1997) measurement of the individual self-efficacy of…

Looping may be defined as a teacher remaining with a group of students for multiple academic years. In this quantitative study, looping was examined as a factor on science achievement. State-wide eighth grade school level 2010 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) data were used. By responding to a mailing, school administrators…

The purpose of this research study was two-fold. The first purpose was to investigate the impact of looping on academic achievement of students in selected public schools in Mississippi. The students' results on the 2010 and 2011 Mississippi Curriculum Test, Second Edition (MCT2) were used to determine whether looping students score differently in…

Looping, a school structure where students remain with one group of teachers for two or more school years, is used by middle schools to meet the diverse needs of young adolescents. However, little research exists on how looping effects the academic performance of students. This study was designed to determine if looping influenced middle school…

For the last 40 years, the author has had the privilege of being a participant/observer/reporter in middle grades education in a wide variety of circumstances, both in the United States and abroad. During this lengthy period, the author has observed and reported on what he considers to be a continuing series of accomplishments in middle grades…

The current qualitative study, using a grounded theory approach, explores the benefits of looping as an instructional practice by comparing the success of deaf and hard-of-hearing students in looping classrooms to the success of hearing students in looping classrooms. Limited information is currently available about the success of looping as an…

At Santa Maria Middle School in southwest Phoenix, Arizona, teachers have decided to maintain their relationships with their students by looping through sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. Here, they describe the results of the first three years of the program, discussing the development of their team's priorities and the strategies they embraced…