The role of teachers in fostering creative processes in children is essential. However, high stakes instruction and teaching to the test inundates our current classrooms. This study explores the relationship between ACT/SAT scores and creativity among pre-service teachers. One hundred eighteen undergraduate students identified as Education majors…

In this paper, we assess students' performance in Elements of Statistics, one of the popular courses in general education, using data from UWF (University of West Florida) for fall 2008, fall 2009, and fall 2010 semesters. We analyze associations between students' performance in the course and several performance related factors including: college…

This study is the first to explore how skill and effort drive student achievement using a framework developed by Duckworth, Eichstaedt, and Unger (2015). A statistically significant achievement difference, as measured by Comprehensive Business Exam score during the last semester in college, was identified when students were separated by standard…

Although many programs remotely disseminate information to students about the college application process, there is little evidence as to how students experience these programs. This paper examines a large-scale remote counseling program in which college counselors initiated interactions with 15,000 high school seniors via text message to support…

The State of Florida Department of Education provides pre-and-post-graduation data for public high school graduates throughout Florida. These data were used for the present report to produce data sets for all M-DCPS regular high schools and charter high schools graduating students in 2009 and 2010. Summary data for the district are also provided.…

Policymakers and education leaders in Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states have been working since 2002 to meet all 12 "Challenge to Lead" Goals for Education. At the same time, SREB states have had to struggle with the toughest economic challenges in decades. Even so, SREB states have succeeded in achieving many of the goals…

The EXCEL Program began as a National Science Foundation-sponsored STEM Talent Expansion Program in 2006 and, because of its significant impact on retention of STEM majors, has since become an institutionalized program at the University of Central Florida. The University of Central Florida EXCEL Program annually recruits approximately 200…

The State of Florida Department of Education provides pre-and-post-graduation data for public high school graduates throughout Florida. These data were used for the present report to produce data sets for all M-DCPS regular high schools and charter high schools graduating students in 2007 and 2008. Summary data for the district are also provided.…

Researchers from MDRC and Johns Hopkins University partnered with Florida's Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) in 2009 to launch an independent evaluation of the district's initiative to implement Ninth Grade Academies (NGAs) in every district high school. An NGA is a self-contained learning community for ninth-graders that operates as a school…

This paper examines how student effort, consistency, motivation, and marginal learning, influence student grades in an online course. We use data from eleven Microeconomics courses taught online for a total of 212 students. Our findings show that consistency, or less time variation, is a statistically significant explanatory variable, whereas…

The "High School Feedback Report" prepared by the State of Florida's Department of Education provides pre-and-post-graduation data for public high school graduates throughout Florida. These data were used for the present report which contains individual data reports for all M-DCPS regular high schools and charter high schools graduating…

The "High School Feedback Report" prepared by the State of Florida's Department of Education provides pre-and-post-graduation data for public high school graduates throughout Florida. These data were used for this present report which contains individual data reports for all M-DCPS regular high schools and charter high schools graduating…

Five years of reading comprehension data in Florida Reading First schools were analyzed to address questions regarding student improvement, reduction in the achievement gap, efficacy of site visits to schools making no achievement gains, and effects of student mobility on growth in reading comprehension. Participants were 120,000 students (about…