Background: Race to the Top era teacher evaluation reforms sought to improve teacher effectiveness and, ultimately, student achievement through either accountability or developmental mechanisms (Donaldson, 2021). Quasi-experimental teacher evaluation studies find mixed results in urban and large-scale settings (Dee & Wyckoff, 2015; Steinberg…

Research indicates that Response to Intervention (RTI) increases student achievement and significantly improves student academic and behavioral outcomes. RTI has demonstrated significant student gains in the elementary setting and research tends to be more heavily centered at the elementary level; however, RTI is expanding to being applied in the…

Project ENGAGE was an Education Innovation and Research federal grant awarded to the Osage County Interlocal Cooperative in October of 2017. This study addressed the effect of a combination of literacy and behavioral supports on the academic outcomes of elementary students in rural public schools. The five-year multi-element study included a…

This dissertation consists of two chapters that examine the impact of educational and positive youth development programs on students' academic and behavioral outcomes. In the first chapter, I evaluate the effect of the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) program, a school meal provision allowing schools meeting the eligibility requirements to…

Concern about the state of literacy instruction in America's classrooms has recently exploded. As a result, policymakers, school system leaders, and teachers have increasingly sought to remake how children learn to read in order to improve literacy outcomes--a pursuit that has gained heightened urgency in the aftermath of the pandemic. This work,…

Middle school reading scores throughout the state of California have been predominantly less than average in recent years. A school located within this region has struggled to raise reading scores. An unknown problem existed that stemmed from the implementation of the school's reading program. The purpose of this investigation was to (a) determine…

This study highlighted the school collaboration and process involved in implementing Tier 1 reading instruction in a rural school in New Mexico and measured the efficacy of this model on student outcomes. Our participants included seven elementary grade teachers, two special educators, one principal, and 106 students in Grades K-6. Our process…

These are the appendices for the report "The Effects of an Academic Language Program on Student Reading Outcomes." This study investigated WordGen Elementary, a program designed to improve fourth- and fifth-grade students' ability to understand and communicate academic language and their general reading skill. The program provider…

Drawing on administrative data and reading achievement data provided by two Midwestern school districts for three participating Kids Read Now schools, this successive year study provides the opportunity to study the reading outcomes of Kids Read Now students. Relying on data from the three schools, we contrast the reading outcomes for KRN student…

This report sets out findings and lessons learned from an ambitious and innovative programme of work funded by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), Arts Council England (ACE) and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation (PHF). At the core of the ?'Learning About Culture' programme are five school-based randomised controlled…

Because several studies have investigated student outcomes in schools implementing Response to Intervention (RtI), relatively little research has investigated the impact of implementation on students' long-term achievement outcomes (i.e., several years after exposure). The purpose of this study was to describe one elementary school's RtI…

Personalized Learning is a teaching and learning philosophy that aims to meet the individual needs of each student by utilizing personal learning profiles, personal learning paths, competency-based learning, flexible learning environments, mentoring, and a culture of growth mindset. For the purpose of this study, a Personalized Learning school is…

The purpose of this study was to understand the impact, implementation and costs associated with a one-semester elective lab course in 9th grade, Accelerating Literacy for Adolescents (ALFA) Lab, which seeks to improve students' reading achievement, particularly for those from economically disadvantaged communities. This study used three cohorts…

The Texas Afterschool Centers on Education (ACE) is the program administered through the Texas Education Agency (TEA) for the federally funded 21st Century Community Learning Center (CCLC) grants. The Texas ACE Boys and Girls Clubs of Austin Area Cycle 10 program is composed of a compilation of activities at 9 Austin Independent School District…

The purpose of our study was to examine Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) implementation fidelity and student outcomes for secondary schools in a large, urban school district placed under a corrective action plan due to disproportionate suspension practices for students of color. Drawing upon data over a four-year period on PBIS…