LXD Research analyzed data from over 3,200 students in grades K-2 who participated in using the 95 Phonics Core Program in a school district in MO during 2021-2022. The demographic breakdown of this sample included 75% White students, 23% Low Income students, 9% ESL students, 13% SPED students. Schools in the district were paired for similar ELA…

Most districts help teachers use data to improve student learning, often supporting this effort with federal funds. But many teachers feel unprepared to use student data to inform their instruction -- referred to as data-driven instruction (DDI) -- and there is little evidence of whether it improves student achievement. This report assesses an…

The purpose of this research was to investigate a formal principal mentoring program and report on perceived learning benefits and the well-being of the participants. The study highlights aspects of the mentoring relationship evidenced in the explicit and intentional development of school leaders. The empirical investigation used…

Action research, also called classroom or teacher research, has been defined as "systematic, intentional inquiry by teachers". Action research encourages school personnel to systematically develop a question, gather data, and then analyze that data to improve their practice. Over the last 15 years, the complexities of using action…

Writing is an essential skill for participating in modern American society. Although it is crucial to careers and civic engagement, student writing falls far short of national expectations (College Board, 2004; NCES, 2012; Persky, Daane, & Jin, 2003). The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) seek to increase the rigor of writing instruction…

In this study, the perceptions of educational leaders of incentive pay programs, including Missouri's Career Ladder Program were examined. A mixed-methods design provided a process by which student achievement, professional development, and the retention of high quality and effective teachers were viewed through the lens of Marzano's (2003)…

To stem the tide of students dropping out, many schools and districts are turning to early warning systems (EWS) that signal whether a student is at risk of not graduating from high school. While some research exists about establishing these systems, there is little information about the actual implementation strategies that are being used across…

Convening professionals--physically or virtually--is necessary but certainly not sufficient for meaningful collaboration and networking to occur. Professional development (PD) must be designed and carried out in ways that encourage a culture of sustained collegiality (Loucks-Horsley et al. 2003). This article presents seven principles for creating…

Although Missouri has had a Career Ladder program for teachers since 1987, very little research has been carried out to measure the program's effects and what has been studied has not been comprehensive. This paper examines the program's effect on student achievement across the state, using longitudinal data on district math and reading scores for…

How can a science teacher find professional development (PD) opportunities that are meaningful, coherent, and sustained that will foster teacher and student learning? The authors believe that science teachers can and should be savvy consumers of PD--seeking out learning experiences that are designed with a few key features in mind. The purpose of…

Universities systematically use assessments to evaluate programs of teacher education. The Professional Development Schools Partnership was a well-established collaboration with more than 11 years of work with area schools. However, two questions became the center of a discussion for evaluating, monitoring, and identifying the accomplishments of…

This is a problem-based learning project that focused on a discrepancy in program content and retention rates between two-year teacher induction programs and induction programs that last three or four years. It specifically focused on the impact induction has on new teacher perceptions and teacher retention. The project also examined the influence…

Through research, data collection, and analysis, this descriptive project examined rural Missouri school board governance practices. The study focused on Missouri rural schools with a student population of 400 to 1000. Effective school board members, as questionnaire respondents, were identified as having served rural Missouri school districts…

We investigated how and to what extent a school-university partnership might influence the teachers and the teaching in one school, Parkland. We interviewed 23 novice and veteran teachers, the principals, and the university liaison. The data suggest that the university structures (i.e., the practicum, the student teaching internship, the Senior…

This study was designed to assess the impact of "Mathematics Pathways and Pitfalls" ("MPP") on the mathematics that second-, fourth-, and sixth-grade students learn. The specific research questions that were addressed are: (a) What is the impact of "MPP" on students' knowledge of the mathematics topics addressed,…