Preschool children's use of decontextualized language, or talk about abstract topics beyond the here-and-now, is predictive of their kindergarten readiness and is associated with the frequency of parents' own use of decontextualized language. Does a brief, parent-focused intervention conveying the importance of decontextualized language cause…

Background: A cost-effective method to address reading delays is to use computer-assisted learning, but these techniques are not always effective. Methods: We evaluated a commercially available computer system that uses visual mnemonics, in a randomised controlled trial with 78 English-speaking children (mean age 7 years) who their schools…

The goal for this research is to articulate and test a new hybrid Augmented Reality (AR) environment for conceptual understanding. From the theoretical lens of embodied interaction, we have designed a multi-user participatory simulation called ARfract where visitors in a science museum can learn about complex scientific concepts on the refraction…

Testing has been found to facilitate students' long-term retention of information. However, the learning performance of highly test-anxious students can be impaired by tests. Thus, these students may learn ineffectively in a testing context. By contrast, summary writing may not trigger test anxiety and is therefore another learning strategy to…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of an early numeracy intervention delivered by kindergarten teachers to students identified as having mathematics difficulties. A multigroup growth-modeling-with-random-assignment-to-intervention-condition design was employed. Thirty-two teachers were randomly assigned to the treatment or…

Background: This study investigated the long-term effectiveness of Preventure, a selective personality-targeted prevention program, in reducing the uptake of alcohol, harmful use of alcohol, and alcohol-related harms over a 3-year period. Methods: A cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted to assess the effectiveness of Preventure.…

While the adjusted cohort graduation rate of students in the United States has reached 80 percent during the 2011-12 school year (Stetser & Stillwell, 2014), in the School District of Philadelphia (SDP) only 57% of its students graduate from high school in four years, which is typical of large urban school districts (Swanson, 2009). Moreover,…

School districts are increasingly adopting technology-based resources in an attempt to improve student achievement. This paper reports the two-year results from randomized control trial of Achieve3000 in the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) in Raleigh, North Carolina. Achieve3000 is an early literacy program that differentiates non-fiction…

Mobile tablets are becoming more prevalent in educational settings, but little is known about the impact of using technology-infused curricula in preschool classrooms. The research summarized in this brief suggests that well-designed tablet-based activities can indeed improve student learning outcomes at the preschool level. These positive…

The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a continuing professional development (CPD) intervention in producing changes in physical education (PE) teaching practice and PE teaching quality by generalist primary school teachers when the CPD addressed the use of a game-centred approach. A cluster randomized controlled trial…

More than 100 million people globally are estimated to be exposed to arsenic in drinking water that exceeds the World Health Organization guideline of 10 µg/L. In an effort to develop and test a low-cost sustainable approach for water arsenic testing in Bangladesh, we conducted a randomized controlled trial which found arsenic educational…

Let's Know! is a language-focused curriculum supplement developed through the Institute of Education Sciences' Reading for Understanding initiative aimed at supporting prekindergarten through grade 3 students' listening and reading comprehension. The current study reports results concerning the impacts of 2 instantiations of Let's Know! on…

Background: The development of mindfulness parenting programs in recent years offers a promising direction for targeting parental emotional dysregulation in families of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Nevertheless, research on the effectiveness of mindfulness parenting programs is limited, and little is known about…

Arachnids are predatory arthropods that are beneficial to humans in many ways, with common examples including spiders and scorpions. Despite the importance of arachnids to global ecosystems, the fear of spiders in specific human groups is well documented. Arachnids are a very diverse class (i.e., Arachnida) encompassing eleven extant orders with…

"TNTP Teaching Fellows" is a highly selective route to teacher certification that aims to prepare people to teach in high-need public schools. The program recruits professionals seeking to change careers and recent college graduates who are not certified teachers. "TNTP Teaching Fellows" expects its participants to teach for…