During the 2014-2015 academic year, WestEd hired us as research interns at the West Comprehensive Center in Phoenix, AZ. As PhD students, our task was to conduct a collective case study on two local education agencies in Arizona that participated in a 2-year school turnaround specialist program. The goal of the project was to gain a deeper…

This article describes original research to determine reasons graduate students do not complete requirements for a Master's (M.Ed.) in Middle Level Education degree at the Southeastern University. Since the program's initial cohort the graduation rate has decreased. Program faculty was concerned about the increasing difference between the number…

An early warning system is an intentional process whereby school personnel collectively analyze student data to monitor students at risk of falling off track for graduation and to provide the interventions and resources to intervene. We studied the process of monitoring the early warning indicators and implementing interventions to ascertain…

Background: School-based interventions hold promise for child obesity prevention. Implemented as a part of the "Winning with Wellness" obesity prevention project, the "Go Slow Whoa" meal pattern (GSW) was designed to promote healthier foods in school cafeterias. This investigation determined perceived program effectiveness and…

Schoolnet is an instructional tool designed to help AISD staff at all levels to improve student achievement. In 2011-2012, the evaluation focused on system implementation.

Four organizations with promising practices in teacher Professional Growth & Support have significantly raised outcomes for low-income students. The charter management networks, Achievement First and Aspire Public Schools, and the two reform organizations, Teach Plus and Agile Mind, have successfully increased student achievement with a…

This dissertation was designed to examine and assess the effectiveness of the ClassScape formative assessment tool on the planning, implementation, and evaluation of instruction at a rural middle school in western North Carolina. The teachers had the ClassScape program for 3 years, but were not using the program to plan future instruction. The…

Lesson study, a form of school-based professional development widely practiced in Japan, has gained popularity in the United States over the last two decades. However, research on its effectiveness has been limited in scope, typically conducted shortly after the conclusion of the professional learning and focused primarily on the practices of…

Purpose/Objectives: The purpose of the "Montana Recess Before Lunch Survey" was to explore benefits, challenges, and factors associated with successful implementation of Recess Before Lunch (RBL), from the perspective of school principals. Methods: An online written questionnaire was distributed to all (N = 661) Montana elementary and…

This dissertation was designed to determine reasons graduate students do not complete requirements for a Master's in Middle Level Education degree at the southeastern university. Since the program's initial on-campus cohort (2000) the graduation rate has decreased from 80% to 62.96% with the fourth on-campus cohort (2005). The current cohort…

The National Study of Charter Management Organization (CMO) Effectiveness is a four-year study designed to assess the impact of CMOs on student achievement and to identify effective structures and practices. An earlier report from this study documented the substantial variation in CMO student achievement impacts as well as variation in CMOs' use…

This report summarizes efforts to develop and pilot test a protocol for collecting information about parent involvement policies, practices, and programs being implemented at the middle and high school levels. The protocol can be used to expand documentation of strategies selected, adapted, and sustained in future years. The study reviewed the…

This is the first of two reports that summarize the findings from an impact evaluation of a violence prevention intervention for middle schools. This report discusses findings after 1 year of implementation. A forthcoming report will discuss the findings after 2 years and 3 years of implementation. In 2004, the U.S. Department of Education (ED)…

Many school personnel are becoming increasingly frustrated with the impact of student behavior on their schools. More than ever, the public perception is that student behavior is out of control. Although isolated instances of violence (e.g., school shootings) contribute to this perception, people are most concerned with the lack of discipline and…

The applicability of conventional measurement techniques in the assessment and evaluation of a middle school educational program has been disputed. The objectives of this program include assisting students in the development of several areas. Among these are independence, healthy self concepts, viable ethical and value systems, socially…