The COVID-19 pandemic caused in-person school closures around the world that impacted student learning and academic achievement to an unknown degree for all types of students. A majority of research on out-of-school time (summer vacation, absences, weather-related events) and initial research related to the pandemic indicated a negative impact on…

Latine parents from lower socioeconomic backgrounds in the United States (US) often face challenges when supporting their adolescents' education in subjects like math. Guided by strengths-based, culturally grounded frameworks, this study explored the challenges Latine parents faced when supporting adolescents' math learning and how they leveraged…

This study examined differences in middle school English Language Arts (ELA) proficiency between pre-pandemic (2019) and post-pandemic (2022) assessments to understand the COVID-19 impact on learning, particularly among vulnerable groups. Grounded in adaptive leadership theory, the research focused on free and reduced-price lunch (FRL) and English…

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…

Background: Research into language and reading scores show that South African learners struggle to read for meaning. Many local researchers report on the inadequate teaching training programmes. Teachers cannot teach basic comprehenion skills. Objectives: This research identifies a gap in the research and records an intervention programme designed…

Research supports the idea that low-income Black and Brown students are prone to higher suspension rates and are more likely to be labeled "troublemakers" for exhibiting the same behaviors as their White peers (Morgan, 2021). Middle school (6-8th grade) is an essential time, particularly for Black and Brown students, because they face…

The Center for Gifted Education (Center) at William & Mary has provided diverse enrichment programs for high-ability students since 1988. With an aspiration to serve financially disadvantaged students, the Center developed and hosted a summer residential enrichment program in STEM areas. Camp Launch, for low-income, high-ability middle school…

This study is a case study within a three-year-long design research study. The purposes of this study are twofold. The first purpose includes investigating whether there is a significant difference in seventh-grade students' proportional reasoning skills before and after a teaching experiment conducted in line with the perspectives of Hypothetical…

An inferential comprehension intervention addressing reading comprehension difficulties of middle schoolers was tested. Method Students in Grades 6 to 8 (n = 145; 53.8% female; 71% White; 24% Black) who failed their state literacy test, were randomly assigned to tutor-led, computerized, or business-as-usual [BaU] interventions. Results The…

In this paper, we explore how students' algebraic noticing's and explanations changed across a two-year period with the introduction of designed instructional material. The data in this report is drawn from n=53 Year 7-8 students' responses to a free-response assessment task across two different years. Analysis focused on how students noticed and…

Middle school students' prosocial behavior, classroom engagement, and sense of belonging tend to decline across the school year. This study addressed whether these declines are associated with students' perceptions of their relationship with their teacher and the extent to which their teacher promoted respect among classmates. Self-report surveys…

We extend teacher evaluation research by estimating a reformed evaluation system's plausibly causal average effects on rural student achievement, identifying the settings where evaluation works, and incorporating evaluation expenditures. That the literature omits these contributions is concerning as research implies it hinders evidence-based…

This study examined the impact of knowledge-building curricula on raising reading achievement for students from high-poverty backgrounds. The overall purpose of the study was to contribute to our understanding of curricula that may be effective in closing achievement gaps for students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds compared to…

This paper reports on the evaluation of the In2 music project in Darlington, England. The project ran for seven weeks from January-March 2020 and involved Year 6 pupils from four primary schools (n = 103) and Year 7 pupils from one secondary school (n = 90), working with Back Chat Brass, a professional brass ensemble. The aim of the In2 music…

In the United States, there had been a push for Algebra for All in the early 1990's in an effort to increase performance on international assessments and provide equity for low-income students and students of color. As the number of students in eighth grade Algebra I increased, a small number of students enrolled in seventh grade Algebra I also…