Many children on the autism spectrum have difficulty developing reading comprehension skills. This multiple phase single case design pilot study examined the impact of a computer-assisted reading tool, Reading Eggspress™, with or without teacher directed instruction on the reading comprehension skills of four children on the autism spectrum (mean…

Although previous research showed that discrete social-emotional skills such as empathy, motivation, and social relationships in school significantly predict achievement, students tend to use various social-emotional skills in combination. As such previous investigations cannot comment on how different combinations or profiles of students'…

Some state mandated tests showed that many African American male students are not proficient readers. Teachers need to understand how to implement instructional strategies that will help enhance African American male students to read proficiently. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore elementary school teachers' perspectives…

In studies of educational achievement, students' self-reported number of books in the family home is a frequently used proxy for social, cultural, and economic background. Absent hard evidence about what this variable captures or how well, its use has been motivated by strong associations with student outcomes. I show that these associations rest…

Research findings illustrate the strong connection between self-determined learning and reading performance for students with or at risk for disabilities. Students with or at risk for learning disabilities (LDs), who are at increased risk for academic failure, may benefit from instruction to promote self-determination skills. Causal Agency Theory…

This study examined the role of learning difficulties in academic emotions and achievement across the transition to lower secondary school among 848 Finnish adolescents. Reading difficulties (RD) and math difficulties (MD) were identified based on test scores in Grade 6 and 7. Students with difficulties were identified as having resolving,…

Racial/ethnic bias in the prediction of students' educational potential was questioned in the Larry P. Vs. Riles case. The construct and predictive validity of the Woodcock-Johnson IV Tests of Cognitive Abilities (WJ IV; Schrank et al. 2014b) have not been examined for racial/ethnic bias. This study extended Keith's (1999) examination of bias…

Important educational policy decisions, like whether to shorten or extend the school year, often require accurate estimates of how much students learn during the year. Yet, related research relies on a mostly untested assumption: that growth in achievement is linear throughout the entire school year. We examine this assumption using a dataset…

Developmental interventions for reading and writing often take place at community colleges during the winter or summer. These brief, intersession workshops are examples of compressed acceleration, as they give students the opportunity to exit developmental coursework and enroll in credit bearing courses the following semester. As college readiness…

This investigation examined patterns of codeveloping internalizing and externalizing problems from early childhood through adolescence (i.e., Grades 1 to 12). Subgroups of children with heterogeneous developmental trajectories (i.e., pure and co-occurring internalizing and externalizing problems) were identified and their long-term associations…

One of the goals of education systems is to equip all students, irrespective of their individual characteristics, with market-relevant skills. Poor or inadequate skills limit access to better-paying and more rewarding jobs and, ultimately, to better living and health conditions, and higher social and political participation. Yet, inequalities in…

The increasing number of children who struggle with reading and writing has become a significant challenge for the nation's public schools. The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore the relationship between which intervention a student gets and ELA scores of the online reading program i-Ready compared to the Word Generation program in…

This was a qualitative case study that focused on the discrepancy of literacy development at the middle school level of average students. The longitudinal case study expanded the course of one and a half academic years; beginning in August 2019 and concluding in January 2021. The study focused on two male participants who exhibited incongruent…

Previous research examining the reading achievement of children speaking languages other than English at home has often grouped such children into one broad category at kindergarten entry--English learners (ELs). EL categorization and placement, however, can considerably underestimate the heterogeneity present among language minority children in…

We exploit within-teacher variation in the years that math and reading teachers in grades 4-8 host an apprentice ("student teacher") in Washington State to estimate the causal effect of these apprenticeships on student achievement, both during the apprenticeship and afterwards. While the average causal effect of hosting a student teacher…