This study aimed to determine the effect of vocabulary instruction integrated with writing exercises on vocabulary learning, retention, and awareness. The research was designed according to the sequential explanatory mixed-method design, in which quantitative and qualitative methods were used together. A quasi-experimental model with a…

The purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of creative writing exercises on narrative text writing skills and advanced reading awareness. To do that one of the mixed research designs, "exploratory sequential design" was used. The quantitative part of the study, in which a pretest post-test research design was used,…

Background: Prior research suggests that stereotype threat explains significant portions of school-based achievement gaps (Steele & Aronson, 1995). To combat stereotype threat, several recent school-based field trials have leveraged self-affirmation theory (Steele & Liu, 1983; Liu & Steele, 1986), wherein affirming one's important…

Nationally, educators suspend Black students at greater rates than any other group (U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights, 2016). This disproportionality is fueled by stereotypes casting Black students as "troublemakers" (Okonofua, Walton, & Eberhardt, 2016)--a label the students too often internalize as part of their…

This action research primarily aims to remediate the low level of basic writing skills (writing in cursive, capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and paragraphing) of Grade 7 learners in Filipino class/subject in a government high school. The researcher conducted: (1) assessment of learners' writing competency through pre and post-tests; (2)…

In this report, we examine the feasibility of characterizing writing performance using process features derived from a keystroke log. Using data derived from a set of "CBAL"™ writing assessments, we examine the following research questions: (a) How stable are the keystroke timing and process features across testing occasions?; (b) How…

One approach to reducing persistent racial/ethnic achievement gaps is to tackle their social-psychological dimensions, including the negative consequences of stereotype threat and other identity threats in school. Initial research suggested that a particularly promising approach is brief self-affirmation writing exercises for 7th grade students;…

This article proposes closing the academic performance gaps between African American and Latino students and their White counterparts particularly in the line of research that concerns the idea of "stereotype threat." Stereotype threat is predicated on the notion that people often fear behaving in a way that fits the negative cultural…

When people reflect on their important values, they may become more attuned to the needs of others. Two longitudinal field experiments examined whether a subtle value-affirmation manipulation can initiate relatively enduring increases in young adolescents' prosocial feelings (Study 1; M [subscript age] = 12.9) and prosocial behaviors (Study 2; M…

To gain a deeper understanding of young adolescent motivation and developmental needs as the nation plunges ahead with the national Common Core Standards and their implications for writing instruction, the authors of this article pondered five questions as they studied their own middle school writing team: (1) What intrinsic motivators drive these…

Experimental research has demonstrated both the deleterious effects of negative stereotypes about ability on academic performance and the relative ease with which stereotypes can be countered in educational settings. The extent to which stereotypes contribute to the achievement gap between American students from dominant social and economic groups…

Schools with very few and relatively low-performing marginalized students may be most likely to trigger social identity threats (including stereotype threats) that contribute to racial disparities. We test this hypothesis by assessing variation in the benefits of a self-affirmation intervention designed to counteract social identity threat in a…

This study addresses closing the academic performance gaps between African American and Latino students and their White counterparts, and between girls and boys in mathematics. Of the various models and theories of these social inequalities that have been advanced in literature, one particularly compelling line of research concerns the idea of…

This study examined whether having African-American middle school students write essays affirming their personal values improved their academic performance. The study analyzed data on about 175 African-American and 190 European-American students (the study's term for white students who are non-Latino and non-Asian) at a suburban middle school who…