Child homelessness has recently reached levels unprecedented in the United States since the Great Depression. Contemporary research has attempted to isolate the effects of homelessness on education, with mixed results. This study reports results from a study in one large urban area and finds that there is no meaningful difference in achievement…

A quantitative approach was used to investigate the impact of a district-wide, job-embedded mathematics professional development program on elementary teachers' general and personal efficacy. This investigation was based on the principles of mathematics professional development, efficacy theory, and student achievement. It was designed to…

This study investigated the predictiveness of preferred learning styles (competitive and cooperative) and classroom climate (teacher support and disciplinary climate) on learning strategy use in mathematics. The student survey part of the Programme for International Student Assessment 2003 comprising of 4633 US observations was used in a weighted…

We examined the associations between academic achievement and arts involvement (access to a musical instrument for the child at home, participation in unspecified after-school arts activities) in a sample of 2339 11-12-year-olds surveyed in the USA between 1998 and 2008. We compared the contributions of these variables to other kinds of cognitive…

This quantitative survey study was designed to determine whether superintendent accountability behaviors or agreement about accountability behaviors between superintendents and their subordinate central office administrators predicted district student achievement. Hierarchical multiple regression and analyses of covariance were employed,…

The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between oral reading fluency (ORF) and Maze, two common Curriculum-Based Measures (CBMs), and the statewide large-scale assessment of reading in Oregon, the Oregon Assessment of Knowledge and Skills- Reading (OAKS-R). A sample of three cohorts of eighth-grade students in an Oregon school…

As record numbers of students are applying to selective colleges and universities, students are attempting to set themselves apart from their peers by taking rigorous advanced courses in high school. The race for improving a student's academic record has resulted in more and more students taking these courses earlier and earlier in their high…

Science assessments require students to read and comprehend questions and to solve mathematical problems. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the following variables can be used to predict science achievement: English language arts achievement, mathematics achievement, socioeconomic status (SES), limited English proficiency (LEP)…

Research conclusions concerning predictors of academic success have been, at best, less than convincing. In fact, these conclusions are more conflicting or mixed when emotional constructs are used. As a result, modern curriculum developers as well as classroom instructors seem to deemphasize, if not ignore, the role of the affective domain in…

Children with learning disabilities (LD) makeup 50.5% of all children identified for special services in the schools. Research has found that children with LD have difficulties in areas of functioning related to social competence. This study is based on a risk and resilience model to explore external protective factors (friendships and social…

The purpose of this study was to predict the third grade English reading TAKS scores while considering the same students' native language, Spanish, reading level as assessed by a state-approved reading assessment, the Evaluacion del desarrollo de la lectura (EDL), from the end of the second grade year. In addition, this study was been designed to…

The current study explored differences in test anxiety on high-stakes standardized achievement testing and classroom testing among elementary school children. This is the first study to directly examine differences in student test anxiety across two testing conditions with different stakes among young children. Three hundred and thirty-five…

The purpose of the study was to determine if measures of first grade readiness, scholastic aptitude, and reading achievement were significant predictors of reading achievement at the end of third grade for Mexican American students from 2 lower socioeconomic levels. Students (47 boys and 47 girls) who had completed their third year in the…

An incentive pay plan for teachers was implemented in the Houston (Texas) Independent School District in the 1979-80 school year. The "outstanding educational progress" (OEP) component of the plan was based on student performance on standardized tests. Schools were grouped to allow students of similar socioeconomic backgrounds to be…

The study reported here was directed at an identification and analysis of characteristics related to secondary school dropout or graduation that are evident in the sixth grade. Subjects used in this investigation were 1090 white males--307 dropouts and 783 graduates; 1100 white females--200 dropouts and 900 graduates; 166 Negro males--69 dropouts…