Success in reading is essential throughout a student's school career and into adulthood. Recent data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading assessment shows that approximately one-third of all fourth-grade students are not meeting basic reading standards. When results are broken out by racial and student subgroups, the…

Education is often depicted as one of the best ways out of poverty. At the same time, research over many decades finds that most educational outcomes are strongly correlated to poverty. It is not likely that these two themes are true at the same time. Either schools are windows of opportunity and help overcome or mitigate poverty and other…

There is a persistent stereotype that gifted students feel ostracized and have less sense of belonging than their normative peers. To explore this stereotype, data from 9251 15-year-old students in the U.S. were used to explore differences in the sense of belonging across achievement levels in various domains (i.e., mathematics, science, and…

This brief describes the findings of a study into the effects of a project-based learning (PBL) social studies curriculum, Project PLACE, on social studies and literacy achievement among second graders in low-income communities. The study by University of Michigan and Michigan State researchers found the PBL curriculum led to gains in social…

During the Great Recession, national public school per-pupil spend-ing fell by roughly 7 percent and persisted beyond the recovery. The impact of such large and sustained education funding cuts is not well understood. To examine this, first, we document that the recessionary drop in spending coincided with the end of decades-long national growth…

One of the most significant reasons children struggle with primary literacy skills is due to poor phonemic knowledge and understanding. This study was designed to identify foundational strategies necessary, needed, and used to help decrease struggles in reading performance and academic growth while addressing long term guidance for higher reading…

The researcher conducted a quasi-experimental quantitative study to determine whether there was a significant difference in reading achievement between students who looped and students who did not loop. Looping is when a group of students stay with the same teacher and classmates for two or more consecutive years. The students in this study were…

Ensuring that students are reading on grade level by third grade is a critical factor that is correlated with future success both in the classroom and in future career and earnings potential for each child (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2012 ; Sum et al., 2009). National data focused on the number of students reading below grade level depicts an…

Title I is the largest federal aid program in the United States. Title I funding is utilized to provide supplemental aid to campuses serving Title I students for two types of programs: targeted assistance or school-wide. One Texas public middle school applied to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) for the school-wide Texas Title I Priority Schools…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the short-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the school closures that occurred in the spring of 2020 on student learning. Using reading and mathematics MAP Growth data from four consecutive academic years, this study compared changes in student outcomes to determine if students, especially those…

Purpose: The purpose of this journal-ready dissertation was to determine the degree to which differences were present in school accountability ratings and progress measures by the experience of principals. In the first study, the degree to which differences were present in accountability rating as a function of the average campus principals' years…

This study investigated the effectiveness of a Computerized Adaptive Reading (CAR) program on a cohort of middle school student's reading proficiency scores as measured by a state standardized end-of-year assessment. The scores used for the study were taken from the SCReady end-of-year assessment for reading proficiency over the three years the…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of PBIS, self-efficacy, and growth mindset on reading achievement of at-risk adolescents. The quasi-experimental study was conducted in two matched public schools in a suburban setting in southeastern Louisiana. Participants were students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade who received reading…

The purpose of this study was to examine disproportionate disciplinary rates among Black girls and whether the disproportionality impacts reading achievement in comparison to White girls in Texas urban and suburban public schools, Grades 3-9, in the 2015-2018 academic years. To determine the extent to which inequities were present in the…

The problem addressed in this quantitative ex-post facto study was that African American, Latino, and Native American students have lower reading fluency than Caucasian counterparts. The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent incorporating more literature written by African American, Latino, and Native American authors had on the…