This study explores the performance of two emergent bilingual (EB) learners--a fifth-grade girl from refugee parents and a seventh-grade boy with university professor parents--on Constructed Response Questions (CRQs) in the STAAR test. Using qualitative methods such as interviews and writing sample analysis, the research evaluates their responses…

This quantitative, correlational-predictive study examined the predictive relationship of the NWEA's Map Growth projected proficiency report data with students' STAAR scores in the area of mathematics, using archival data from the 2021-2022 school year. The theoretical foundation for this study was provided by Vygotsky's zone of proximal…

Students with different abilities perform lower on state standardized tests, such as the STAAR test (Texas Education Agency, n.d.). The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to study the underlying causes that contributed to the low performance of students with different abilities on STAAR standardized tests and strategies the…

To sit for the CPA Exam in Texas, all candidates must complete an ethics course that has been approved by the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy (TSBPA). These approved courses are offered at educational institutions, using a required Ethics Matrix to create the course to receive approval. The problem addressed by this study is that the…

Public schools in the state of Texas are required by the Texas Education Agency to administer five state exams to high school students consisting of Algebra I, Biology, English I, English II, and U.S. History. These exams play a big role in school accountability and in high school graduation. For this reason, many schools develop intervention…

Research Findings: This article investigates how a sample of families, educators, researchers, advocates, and policymakers (n = 93) made sense of how children are and should be taught in kindergarten. By examining their conceptions of instruction that define kindergarten in this current era of standards and accountability and what opportunities…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how end-of-course general education teachers in public high schools (grades 9-12) described cognitive fatigue during the preparation and implementation of standardized testing practices in a Texas urban public school district. Prior to this study, it was not known how Texas public…

Humanizing pedagogies present a promising framework for contesting dehumanizing practices all too common in U.S. urban schools. To co-construct such pedagogies, however, teachers and students must negotiate between the humanizing and dehumanizing discourses that circulate within their school context. Drawing from data collected from a qualitative…

Schools around the nation are increasingly offering online testing options. House Bill (HB) 3906, passed by the 86th Texas Legislature in 2019, resulted in the STAAR redesign, which will be administered in the 2022--2023 school year. The STAAR redesign includes several components including an online test administration for the STAAR. With the…

Composition researchers have become increasingly concerned with the issue of knowledge transfer: the use of knowledge and skills learned in one setting to complete tasks in a different setting. In terms of writing-related knowledge transfer, research suggests that rigid rules and formulas for writing do not transfer as successfully as flexible…

This investigation focused on the disempowerment of adult literacy learners touched by traumatic events caused by an array of factors such as emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, neglect, homelessness, and poverty. The investigator will analyze "ged.com pretest" scores (pretest and posttest) for Cohen's d effect size in specific…

This paper examines and critiques the accountability movement, high-stakes testing, and their relationship to the achievement gap. Analyzing the issues in the context of Texas, the paper discusses dropout rates that were incorrectly identified and reported, the role of courts and specific court cases in high-stakes testing, ethical considerations,…

Based on a successful five-week summer program, we constructed an online alternative to prepare Hispanic students to take the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). We used input from student premed advisors, students, a faculty mentor, a Verbal Reasoning coach, and the program administrator. Online activities were provided to support the student…

It appears that schools and families are at a crossroads when it comes to testing. High-quality assessments generate rich data and can provide valuable information about student progress to teachers and parents, support accountability, promote high expectations, and encourage equity for students of color and low-income students. But it is…

This ethnographic study reports on one elementary literacy coach's response to high-stakes testing and her approach to support third- through fifth-grade teachers in a Title I school in Texas. Sources of data included field notes and observations of classes and meetings, audio/video recordings, and transcribed interviews. The findings illustrate…