Previewing answer-choice options before finishing reading the text is a widely employed test-taking behavior. In the present study we examined whether previewing is related to item response accuracy and response time, using data from Chinese learners of varying English proficiency levels and English native speakers. We examined eye movement…

There is an emerging field in literacy research which acknowledges the potential variances in literacy practices valued by schools and families. This article reports on one instance where the rich literacy practices of a particular home environment were not recognized within the child's school context. The data explores the impact on the child as…

Research on gender achievement gaps shows they exist, and are largest in the tails of the distribution, starting as early as Kindergarten and persisting through eighth grade. In mathematics, studies find small average gender achievement gaps and larger systematically male-favoring gaps among the highest achieving students. This paper seeks to…

Brain Gym is a movement-based program designed to address a diverse range of students academic and behavioral needs by promoting whole-brain learning. However, the scientific research-base supporting Brain Gym is limited and findings are inconclusive. This study's goal was to evaluate the effects of Brain Gym movements on fourth grade students…

This dissertation is a mixed methods study of a mid-sized Kansas school district. It explores the relationship between a blended learning approach to instruction and 5th grade student performance on Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessments in reading and mathematics. The objectives were to determine what a blended learning environment…

More than 60 years after the "Brown v. Board of Education" decision declared segregated schooling inherently unequal, this timely book sheds light on how and why U.S. schools are experiencing increasing segregation along racial, socioeconomic, and linguistic lines. It offers policy and programmatic alternatives for advancing equity and…

Over the past decades, the closure of urban public schools has disrupted the educational experiences of hundreds of thousands of public schoolchildren. Since 2000, urban school districts in cities such as Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C. have…

This report summarizes the academic outcomes for middle school student athletes and non-athletes in the 2014-2015 school year.

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a difference between a student's reading/language arts TCAP scale score and his or her lunch status for students in grades three, four, and five within two school systems in Tennessee. The population consisted of 2,442 students who were in grades three, four, and five during the 2014-2015…

The Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) provides grants to support performance-based compensation systems for teachers and principals in high-need schools. The study measures the impact of pay-for-performance bonuses as part of a comprehensive compensation system within a large, multisite random assignment study design. The treatment schools were to…

We examined the effectiveness of a researcher-provided reading intervention with 484 fourth graders with significant reading difficulties. Students were randomly assigned to one year of intervention, two years of intervention, or a business-as-usual comparison condition (BAU). Students assigned to two years of intervention demonstrated…

We conducted a 14-week experimental study of 2 versions of a relatively comprehensive RC intervention that involved 50 classroom teachers, 15 tutors, and 116 children drawn in equal proportions from grades 3 and 5 in 13 schools in a large urban school district. Students were randomly assigned in equal numbers to the two tutoring conditions and a…

In this pilot study, we ask whether repeated storybook reading is also beneficial for word learning in children diagnosed with specific language impairment (SLI). We compared 3-year-old German learning children diagnosed with SLI to typically developing children matched on age and socioeconomic status (SES). One week later, children with SLI…

Gender differences in reading development are a global phenomenon, with girls typically performing better than boys. Some studies have reported gender differences favouring girls in reading comprehension in South Africa, but little systematic evidence exists about gender differences in the cognitive-linguistic abilities that underlie reading…

Grounded in the simple view of reading, this study tracked the development of print-processing skill in high-, average-, and low-achieving readers at six time points across grades 1-3. Results showed large between-group differences in sight vocabulary, oral reading accuracy, and oral reading rate that remained stable from beginning of first grade…