Mathematical fact fluency, particularly in addition and subtraction, is crucial for students' success in later mathematical concepts and is often a focus of elementary education. Educators are exploring tools to enhance math fluency, such as Reflex Math, a digital program designed to accelerate students' fact fluency through adaptive learning…

Star Math (SM) is a popular computer adaptive test (CAT) schools use to screen students for academic risk. Despite its popularity, few independent investigations of its diagnostic accuracy have been conducted. We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of SM based upon vendor provided cut-scores (25th and 40th percentiles nationally) in predicting…

This explanatory mixed-methods study explored if there was a change in student progress as measured by STAR percentile rank due to the multiple instructional modalities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Educational institutions had to shift to distance learning in March of 2020 due to the outbreak of COVID-19. The return to school for the 2020-2021…

Purpose: A growing trend in instructional improvement efforts is the use of formative assessment informed by research-based developmental trajectories of how students gain deeper understanding of subject matter content over time. This article reports the findings of a large-scale experimental study of an innovative mathematics professional…

Although the promise of universal social-emotional learning (SEL) programs enhancing student academic outcomes has captured public attention, there has been limited research regarding such programs' impact on students' state test scores. We used multilevel modeling of follow-up data from a multiyear, multisite cluster-randomized efficacy trial to…

Although the promise of universal social-emotional learning (SEL) programs enhancing student academic outcomes has captured public attention, there has been limited research regarding such programs' impact on students' state test scores. We used multilevel modeling of follow-up data from a multiyear, multisite cluster-randomized efficacy trial to…

Gateway testing is an important pedagogic tool employed by many university mathematics departments in calculus and precalculus courses. With a goal of ensuring that students attain needed basic skills in courses with a conceptual "reform" orientation, these tests provide an efficient means of assessing a large volume of student work,…

The implementation of the Pennsylvania Algebra 1 Keystone Exam brought many changes to the mathematics classroom for both teachers and students. The purpose of this case study will be to explore how teachers at a charter school respond to testing requirements through adjustments in how and what they teach and to understand and explain the…

This is a quantitative study examining whether STAR Math, a student monitoring system, can improve PSSA Math scores. The experimental school used STAR Math during the 2015-2016 school year in grouping students for remediation and intervention. The control school used traditional curriculum measures to group students for remediation and…

The purpose of this research study was to explore trends in student test performance since the Common Core implementation in 8th and 11th grades in Pennsylvania. After receiving failing grades for the Pennsylvania State Standards when compared with other states, legislators adopted the Pennsylvania Common Core Standards in 2013. Much of this…

For the realm of this study, the researcher reviewed two separate mathematics programs that have been implemented within the school district to address both the needs of the students with learning disabilities and the requirements of the local and state assessments. The mathematics programs are designed with two different methods to meet the…

This study examined the predictive relationship of a brief computation measure administered in the fall, winter, and spring of first, second, and third grade with the mathematic portion of a state-mandated academic achievement test administered in the spring of third grade. The relationship between mathematical achievement and resource…

The National Math + Science Initiative (NMSI) is a nonprofit organization committed to improving educational outcomes that traces its roots back to the early 1990s. NMSI's College Readiness Program (CRP) is a long-standing program with the goal of promoting STEM education in high schools to improve students' preparation for college. The three-year…

The purpose of this non-experimental quantitative study was to investigate the relationship between Pennsylvania's Classroom Diagnostic Tools (CDT) interim assessments and the state-mandated Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) and to create linear regression equations that could be used as models to predict student performance on the…

Academic preparedness, executive function abilities, and positive relationships with teachers have each been shown to be uniquely important for school readiness and success in the early elementary grades. Few studies, however, have examined the joint influence of these readiness variables on early school outcomes. Using data from a prospective…