The authors compared the mental computation performance and mental strategies used by an experimental Grade 2 class and a control Grade 2 class before and after instructional intervention. Results indicate that students in the experimental group had better performance on mental computation. The use of mental strategies (counting, separation,…

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…

Two ways of measuring change are presented and compared: A conventional "change score", defined as the difference between scores before and after an interim period, and a process-oriented approach focusing on detailed analysis of conceptually defined response patterns. The validity of the two approaches was investigated. Vocabulary…

This case study explores the pedagogy and practices of an elementary school teacher who combines inquiry pedagogy and critical literacy. The authors gathered data for this analysis by conducting two interviews with a classroom teacher and observing classroom practices 12 times over a 6 month period. Through a general inductive approach to…

The author examined the effectiveness of 2 fluency-oriented reading programs on improving reading fluency for an ethnically diverse sample of second-grade students. The first approach is Fluency-Oriented Reading Instruction (S. A. Stahl & K. Heubach, 2005), which incorporates the repeated reading of a grade-level text over the course of an…

The validity of the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) was examined in a national sample of 863 Norwegian schoolchildren in grades 1-7 (aged 6-13). The original factor structure of the STRS was tested by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The CFA results did not support the original three-factor structure of the STRS. Subsequent CFA of the…

There has been considerable debate over the ways in which children's early literacy skills develop over time. Using confirmatory multidimensional scaling (MDS) growth analysis, this paper directly tested the hypothesis of a cumulative trajectory versus a compensatory trajectory of development in early literacy skills among a group of 1233…

This randomized control trial study evaluated the effectiveness of the solution-focused approach in addressing academic, motivational, and socioemotional needs of 14 children with reading difficulties. The intervention group received five 40-min solution-focused sessions. The control group received academic homework support. Results showed…

The Matthew effect is often used as a metaphor to describe a widening gap between good and poor readers over time. In this study we examined the development of individual differences in reading and cognitive functioning in children with reading difficulties and normal readers from Grades 1 to 3. Matthew effects were observed for individual…

The authors asked 74 teachers to predict average- and low-performing students' reading performance using a rating scale and actual curriculum-based measures of oral reading fluency. The authors compared teachers' judgments with students' performance on curriculum-based measures and a standardized achievement measure of reading. Comparisons between…

The aim of the present study was to investigate children's achievement goal orientations and their relations to math achievement in the primary grades. The sample consisted of 179 children who were in the 2nd and 3rd grades during the first measurement and in the 3rd and 4th grades during the second measurement. Children's self-ratings were…

The author examined the long-term effects of teacher instructional grouping practices on the early mathematical achievement of language minority students from various ethnic groups. The study used 3 longitudinal models. In the 1st model, English language learners (ELLs) displayed lower math performance than did English-only students in the…

The authors reported findings from 3 studies examining the efficacy of Five Standards pedagogy in raising student achievement. Studies 1 and 2 were randomized designs; Study 3 was a quasi-experimental design. Samples included 53 teachers and 622 predominantly low-income Latino students in Grades 1-4. Studies assessed model fidelity with the…

This study investigated the application of an expectancy-value model to children's activity choices on the playground at recess. The purpose was to test the prediction that expectancies for success and subjective task values are related to decisions to engage in specific recess activities such as climbing, playing soccer, or skipping rope.…

We conducted a three-arm cluster randomized controlled trial (n = 2491) to evaluate a teacher delivered intervention to reduce aggressive and antisocial behavior and increase prosocial behavior in the classroom. A second aim of this trial was to establish whether combining this intervention with an intervention for parents was better than the…