Writing a good essay typically involves students revising an initial paper draft after receiving feedback. We present eRevise, a web-based writing and revising environment that uses natural language processing features generated for rubric-based essay scoring to trigger formative feedback messages regarding students' use of evidence in…

The effectiveness of an experimental middle school fraction intervention was evaluated. The intervention was centered on the number line and incorporated key principles from the science of learning. Sixth graders (N = 51) who struggled with fraction concepts were randomly assigned at the student level to the experimental intervention (n = 28) or…

The period of early adolescence is characterized by dramatic changes, simultaneously affecting physiological, psychological, social, and cognitive development. The physical transition from elementary to middle school can exacerbate the stress and adversity experienced during this critical life stage. Middle school students often struggle to find…

The Math Curriculum Impact Study was a large-scale randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test the efficacy of a digital core curriculum for Grade 5 mathematics. Reasoning Mind's Grade 5 Common Core Curriculum was a comprehensive, adaptive, blended learning approach that treated schools implemented for an entire school year. The study was completed…

Student-teacher relationships that improve over time may help slow or prevent declines in student motivation. In a diverse sample of 1,274 middle and high school students from three schools, this mixed-methods study found that those who improved in developmental relationships with teachers reported greater academic motivation, and more positive…

Adolescents with disabilities have great difficulty with academic content in middle school, and their teachers have difficulty teaching them to understand and use academic language. We taught teachers of 6th grade students with Learning Disabilities, over half of whom were also English Language Learners (ELL), to implement about 15 minutes of…

Objectives: Many school-aged children do not meet the daily minimum recommendations for accruing moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and spend much of their day sedentary. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of teacher-delivered classroom-based physical activity (CBPA) on students' MVPA and sedentary behaviors.…

A primary objective of development is to build a knowledge base. To accumulate knowledge over time and experiences, learners must engage in productive processes, going beyond what is explicitly given to generate new knowledge. Though important to accumulating knowledge, these processes are also easily disrupted. Individuals often depend on surface…

The purpose of this research study was to evaluate iPersonalize, a gamified instructional approach developed by Fullerton School District (FSD) in California to encourage student engagement and promote achievement. An instructional approach is considered gamified when it incorporates computer game elements to augment existing classroom,…

Background: Writing involves multiple processes, drawing on a number of language, cognitive, and print-related skills, and knowledge. According to the Direct and Indirect Effects model of Writing (DIEW; Kim & Park, 2019, "Reading and Writing," 32, 1319), these multiple factors have hierarchical, interactive, and dynamic relations.…

We investigated 2 hypotheses of a recently proposed integrative theoretical model of reading, the direct and indirect effects model of reading (DIER; Kim, 2017b, 2019): (a) hierarchical relations and (b) dynamic relations (or differential relations) of skills to reading comprehension. Students were assessed on reading comprehension, word reading,…

Deaf students often differ from their hearing peers in written language development. Providing developmentally appropriate instruction is ideal, yet current methods of writing assessment do not provide teachers with sufficient information regarding the written language (i.e., syntactic) development of deaf students. In this research, we use a…

State mandated tests have taken center stage for assessing student learning and for holding teachers and students accountable for achieving adequate progress. What types of early knowledge predict performance on these tests, especially among low-income children who are at risk for poor performance? We report on a longitudinal study of 519…

This study examined the predictive validity and classification accuracy of individual and group-administered screening measures relative to student performance on a year-end state reading assessment in two states. A sample of 321 students were assessed in the areas of word-level and text fluency, as well as reading comprehension in the fall of…

This study evaluated the efficacy of a family-centered preventive intervention, the Family Check-Up (FCU), delivered as an online, eHealth model to middle school families. To increase accessibility of family-centered prevention in schools, we adapted the evidence-based FCU to an online format, with the goal of providing a model of service delivery…