Education reform efforts, including the current adoption of Common Core State Standards, have increased attention to teaching critical thinking skills to all students. This study investigated the critical thinking skills of fourth-grade students from a school district in Texas, including 45 identified gifted students and 163 general education…

Most studies find a positive correlation between family cultural capital and educational achievement. As compelling as the evidence on the advantages of family cultural capital for educational achievement is, most studies have focused on countries characterized by having a large middle class and high levels of income, not addressing societies with…

This study investigated the effect of class practices on students' learning gains in reading comprehension in the 5th grade. A sample of 4,344 students in 283 classes in 176 schools was studied. Several class practices that have previously been demonstrated to be effective were tested while controlling for student characteristics and socioeconomic…

Evidence points to associations between the socioeconomic composition of neighborhoods and children's and adolescents' development. A minimal amount of research, however, examines how timing of exposure to neighborhood socioeconomic conditions matters. This study used longitudinal data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development…

This study explored the viability of using kindergarten measures of phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, and orthographic knowledge, administered in English, to predict first grade reading achievement of Spanish-speaking English language learners. The primary research question was: Do kindergarten measures of early literacy skills in…

The degree of equality in the delivery of education is an important dimension of variation. Some nations believe that the provision of a highly stratified system enhances quality, at least for the minority who are able to gain entry to the elite academic stream. In contrast, other nations prefer a more egalitarian approach to education where all…

While heads were spinning, policy watchers seemed genuinely perplexed by New York City's Mayor de Blasio's education opinions. De Blasio opposed many of Bloomberg's reform efforts despite the achievement gains realized by the nation's largest school district during the last 12 years. Yet on close reading, de Blasio's nine-page education plan…

The purpose of this study was to examine the developmental difference in curriculum-based measurement (CBM) reading aloud performance between Grade 8 English-speaking students and English language learners (ELLs) using two theories of reading development: compensatory model and cumulative model. Fifty non-ELLs and 133 ELLs were administered the…

The goal of the present study was to test three competing hypotheses about the nature of comprehension problems of students who are poor in reading comprehension. Participants in the study were first, second, and third graders, totaling nine cohorts and over 425,000 participants in all. The pattern of results was consistent across all cohorts:…

At present, the incidence rates of children identified with autism spectrum disorders are on the rise, leading to an increased number of school-aged children needing specialized services in public schools. Most intervention efforts in the school setting focus on behavioral interventions and/or communication and social skills remediation services…

Recent policy dialogue suggests that chronic absenteeism is not only underdocumented, but is also detrimental to the success of students as early as kindergarten. That said, almost no empirical research has examined the effects of chronic absenteeism on student outcomes. This study addresses this underresearched issue in more depth. Using a…

There have been strong calls to action in recent years to promote both school choice and the learning of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This has led to the burgeoning development of STEM-focused schools. Nine STEM-focused charter and 2 STEM-focused magnet schools that serve elementary-aged students were examined to…

Many schools have recently experimented with moving breakfast from the cafeteria to the classroom. We examine whether such a program increases achievement, grades, and attendance rates. We exploit quasi-random timing of program implementation that allows for a difference-in-differences identification strategy. We find that providing breakfast in…

The major purpose of this study was to find out how to encourage Title I family engagement as the school funds were decreasing in the next school year. I wanted to determine how to continue, as well as increase, parental engagement at a Title I elementary school in a rural setting. The Title I program focuses on assisting students who are…

The purpose of the study was to test the theoretical perspective that related Classworks (2008) technology to reading achievement of fourth grade students to determine if a significant difference existed in student reading achievement between the supplemental uses of Classworks software reading program to that of standard classroom instruction.…