Previous studies have shown that children suffering from developmental dyslexia have a deficit in categorical perception of speech sounds. The aim of the current study was to better understand the nature of this categorical perception deficit. In this study, categorical perception skills of children with dyslexia were compared with those of…

"Ameryka-Echo" was one of the most popular Polish-language weeklies, published in the United States between 1889 and 1972. Its founder and owner, Antoni A. Paryski, consciously sought to transplant ideas of Polish Positivism to the Polish-American immigrant communities in the United States. Reading was a central concept of…

Although the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act requires that classroom teachers be highly qualified, the assumption that achieving the highly qualified endorsement equates to teacher effectiveness in the classroom is unverified. The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of teacher qualification, as defined by the NCLB Act and…

Teacher expectations and their effects on student academic performance began with the work of Robert Rosenthal (1968). His work led to a plethora of studies by researchers investigating teacher behaviors with high and low expectations of students. However, there are few studies on how students' perceptions of teacher expectations influence…

As accountability reform intensifies, urban school districts strive to meet No Child Left Behind mandates to avoid severe penalties. This study investigated the resurgence of homogeneous grouping methods as a means to increase reading achievement and meet English Language Arts Adequate Yearly Progress requirements. Specifically, this study…

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania plans to develop a new statewide evaluation system for teachers and principals in its public schools by school year 2013-2014. To inform the development of this evaluation system, the Team Pennsylvania Foundation (Team PA) undertook the first phase of the Pennsylvania Teacher and Principal Evaluation…

Educational improvement can be measured over time and against benchmarks in four key areas: (1) mastery of basic reading and math skills; (2) high school completion; (3) preparation for postsecondary education; and (4) adult educational attainment. The first three reflect how the school system prepares students for postsecondary education. The…

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania plans to develop a new statewide evaluation system for teachers and principals in its public schools by school year 2013-2014. To inform the development of this evaluation system, the Team Pennsylvania Foundation (Team PA) undertook the first phase of the Pennsylvania Teacher and Principal Evaluation…

How pronounced is income inequality around the world--and how can education help reduce it? This paper reports the following: (1) Across OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries, the average income of the richest 10% of the population was about nine times that of the poorest 10% before the onset of the global economic…

This study examines the impact of instrumental music study and group chess lessons on the standardized test scores of suburban elementary public school students (grades three through five) in Levittown, New York. The study divides the students into the following groups and compares the standardized test scores of each: a) instrumental music…

The purpose of this study was to conduct a formative program evaluation of a school district's multisensory reading initiative. The mixed methods study involved semi-structured interviews, online survey, focus groups, document review, and analysis of extant special education student reading achievement data. Participants included elementary…

The purpose of this review is to learn from rigorous evaluations of alternative technology applications how features of using technology programs and characteristics of their evaluations affect reading outcomes for students in grades K-12. The review applies consistent inclusion standards to focus on studies that met high methodological standards.…

This is the third biennial report to Congress on the implementation of the "Elementary and Secondary Education Act's" Title III State Formula Grant Program (also known as the English Language Acquisition State Grants Program). This report provides information regarding the U.S. Department of Education's efforts to hold states accountable…

Previous research has indicated that there is no relationship between traditional homework completion and academic achievement among elementary grade students. Yet, elementary school teachers continue to utilize this practice. The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the relationship between nontraditional, differentiated reading…

The Illinois Striving Readers (ISR) Project had two purposes: (1) implement a supplemental reading intervention for students in ninth grade who were reading below grade level; and (2) study the impact of the intervention on students' performance on standardized assessments using a randomized control trial design. The Illinois Striving Readers…