Background: Internationally 18% of youth are obese. Fitness testing can be used to establish fitness surveillance, which can inform policy and targeted interventions aimed at addressing obesity. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of overweight, obesity, and low fitness in Idaho school-aged youth through a pilot study.…

This study examined the efficacy of a computer-based social skills training program, "The Social Express." Independent researchers evaluated the program at both a school-wide level (Tier 1) and at a referred group level (Tier 2). The sample included third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade students in a Title 1 public school with a 100%…

Two decades ago, the New Jersey Supreme Court in "Abbott v. Burke" mandated that the state establish high quality preschool education in the 31 highest-poverty school districts. New Jersey created a pre-K program with high standards and a continuous improvement system that transformed a patchwork of private and public programs into a…

This report describes the use of a Learning Progression Framework (LPF) to support the Student Learning Objectives (SLO) process. The report highlights a few common threats we currently see in the SLO process implemented at various states and districts, and offers the LPF as a possible solution for addressing these threats. This report was…

Background: Formative assessment has been reported to improve learners' learning in affluent contexts. However, very few studies have reported the impact of formative assessment on teachers' knowledge and understanding in no-fee public schools located in a low socioeconomic context. Aim: This article investigates the impact of the Assessment for…

South Carolina's Charter School Act of 1996 was passed for the primary reason of improving education for the state. A part of this improvement would come by way of charter schools providing innovative ways of teaching and learning. In 2017 WCSD was established, in hopes of answering the call of the 1996 Charter School Act by providing innovative…

Evolution by natural selection is key to understanding life and of considerable practical importance in public health, medicine, biotechnology, and agriculture. "The Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS) include natural selection among several evolutionary concepts that all third-graders should know. This article explores a novel…

Residential mobility is likely to have consequences for student performance, but prior empirical work is largely correlational and offers little insight into its impacts. Using rich, longitudinal data, we estimate the effects of residential mobility on the performance of New York City public school students. Using both student fixed effects and…

In Philadelphia, civic and education leaders have identified early literacy programming as critical for overall education improvement. Charter schools enroll about one third of all public school students in Philadelphia. This study seeks to understand how Philadelphia charter schools support their early readers and writers, in order to contribute…

The Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) framework, which uses a systems approach to promote school improvement and support all students in improving academics and behavior using data-based problem-solving, is a key part of the Wake County Public Schools System (WCPSS) Strategic Plan. As of 2017-18, MTSS schools were at the initial stages of MTSS…

The purpose of this causal-comparative study was to use Gagne's cumulative learning theory to compare math curricula choice to Louisiana Education Assessment Program (LEAP) math achievement for third, fourth, and fifth grade students in public schools within the state of Louisiana. The independent variable of interest, math curricula choice, was…

Can the National Board certification process support school improvement where large proportions of students score below grade level on standardized tests? This SCOPE study examines a project that sought to seize and capitalize upon the learning opportunities embedded in the National Board certification process, particularly opportunities to learn…

The present study aimed to assess whether a training-based intervention using an explicit rime-based phonics method improves the phonological awareness outcomes of EFL children in Ethiopia. The participants were two sections of 3rd grade children (N = 70) from two public primary schools in Hawassa, Ethiopia. A quasi-experimental research design…

The Council of the Great City Schools reviewed the efforts of the Denver Public School System to improve student achievement, compared the district's practices with those of urban school districts that have seen significant gains in student achievement, and recommended strategies to improve student achievement in Denver. To conduct its work, the…

In this brief we examine how variability in students' math and reading test scores changed across the pandemic, including whether increased dispersion was concentrated at one part of the test score distribution. Using reading and math assessment data from a sample of 8 million students in grades 3-8 in 24,000 public schools who took MAP Growth…