For centuries, minority groups, students from low socio-economic background, and girls in public schools especially K-12 educational institutions in the United States have experienced prejudice, injustice, and bigotry. Unfortunately, the conventional approach of education, based on a one-size-fits-all approach, has failed to deal with these obstacles. In the past decades, however, there has been an increasing demand for the adoption of the Competency-Based system of education, a personalized learning approach that focuses on the acquisition of concrete skills rather than abstract knowledge. In a Competency-Based model, students advance based on the demonstration of mastery of knowledge and skills other than the amount of time spent learning. Many researchers have argued that equity is at the core of Competency-Based Education, yet critics opine that competency-based education will rather deepen inequity. The purpose of this study is to provide an in-depth understanding of how competency-based education can enhance equity in K-12 classrooms in the United States of America. Through a rapid review, the extent to which competency-based education can enhance equity in K-12 classrooms in the United States will be evaluated. This review could serve as a guide for further research on competency-based education and equity, and how competency-based education may be used to increase equity in the teaching and learning process in K-12 schools.

There are different factors associated with learning a second language such as English. Among the factors including motivation and socioeconomic is the element of cognates that may impact second language acquisition. Through exploring multiple studies, this secondary research paper aims to examine the impact of cognates on language acquisition among different participants with different language backgrounds. Through different research methodologies, the findings of each published study revealed that students whose mother tongues do share cognates with their second language have an advantage over speakers of languages that do not share cognates with a second language such as English. On the other hand, those students whose first language does not share cognates with a second language face challenges and difficulties in learning the second language. Consequently, the latter speakers might not equally benefit from academic opportunities, which are more prevalent among other students, whose first language does share cognates with a second language, due to experiencing fewer language barriers.

The present study aimed to build on existing research surrounding struggling adolescent readers. The purpose of the study was to determine the impact of the reading program READ 180(TM) by Scholastic, Inc., on struggling adolescent readers in a middle school setting and also to examine whether this intervention has promise for closing the achievement gap between African-American and white students.;The study was conducted using a nonequivalent control-group design. Archival data from the 2005-2006 school year was analyzed for 120 students in grades 6, 7 and 8 from ABC Middle School. The experimental group was comprised of 60 students, 20 per grade level, and the control group was comprised of 60 students, 20 per grade level. Students in the experimental group received additional instruction in English through participation in the READ 180(TM) program. This study examined a modified implementation model of the READ 180(TM) program: Students participated in this program every other day for 90 minutes, instead of the daily class sessions recommended by Scholastic, Inc.;Results of the study indicated that the modified implementation model of the READ 180(TM) program yielded significant results on a measure of growth in reading comprehension (Scholastic Reading Inventory) for Grade 6 students who participated in the program. The findings revealed no significant differences for students in grades 7 and 8 on this dependent measure. Results also indicated that there were no significant differences in performance between the groups of students in grades 6, 7 and 8 on the 2006 Virginia Standards of Learning Assessments in reading and mathematics when compared to students who did not participate in the intervention.

This program evaluation was undertaken to examine the relationship between participation in Project iRead and student gains in word recognition, fluency, and comprehension as measured by the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) Test. Linear regressions compared the 2012-13 PALS results from 5,140 first and second grade students at adopting and non-adopting schools. Similar regressions were performed at early and late adopting schools. The outcomes for Project iRead indicated statistically significant improvement in word recognition at the district level. However, the results were not practically significant as less than 1% of the variation was explained by the model. In addition, Project iRead appeared to have negative relationships with word recognition, fluency, and comprehension when comparisons were conducted at early and late adopting schools. Practice changes and further research would improve our understanding of both sight word instruction and Project iRead. Amendments to Project iRead's implementation manual and additions to its Virtual Flash Card repertoire may increase practical outcomes. A qualitative study may explain present outcomes. Research that includes disability status and word recognition as predictors may provide more insight into Project iRead's best uses. Finally, limiting the data set to students 2 standard deviations from the mean or to students who are at or below grade level benchmarks may be more indicative of this program's relationship to gains in reading.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral approach to reading comprehension instruction. An important component of the intervention was a training course for teachers designed to communicate a conceptual framework for understanding the comprehension deficits of learning disabled (LD) children.;The sample included 39 elementary and middle school students who were identified as learning disabled. Intact classes were assigned to the treatment or control group. The nonequivalent control-group design was used, and data was examined using analysis of covariance. Dependent variables were reading comprehension as measured by the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests and locus of control as assessed by the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Scale. Two null hypotheses were tested to determine whether differences between the treatment and control groups were significant at the.05 level of confidence.;The data analysis found that students in the cognitive-behavioral treatment showed significant improvement in reading comprehension when compared to control group students who were exposed to their normal routine of reading instruction. The treatment did not affect the locus of control variable.;Recommendations include replication of the study in diverse school systems in order to assess generalizability and delayed posttesting to determine the maintenance of treatment effects. Efforts to increase locus of control may need to be implemented in multiple settings with frequent demonstrations of the role of effort in determining outcomes.

Socioeconomically disadvantaged and African American students consistently perform lower on literacy assessments that measure reading and writing achievement than their dominant culture peers. The changing nature of literacy itself is making this literacy problem even more challenging. Competencies for interacting in digital contexts, identified as new literacies, are necessary to effectively read, write, and communicate using the Internet and other information and communication technologies [ICTs]. According to extant literature, African Americans and socioeconomically disadvantaged students are more likely than their dominant culture peers to use digital technologies to build traditional literacy (Au, 2006; Harwood & Asal, 2007).;Teachers have an important role in providing all students with the technological experiences that will allow them to be literate in the 21st century (IRA, 2009). The changing nature of literacy underscores the importance of professional development for literacy and technology integration (Karchmer, 2001; Watts-Taffe & Gwinn, 2007). The purpose of this study was to understand how and why teachers may engage students from a socioeconomically disadvantaged school with a predominately African American student population in different digital technological literacy experiences than students from a more socioeconomically advantaged school with a large percentage of African American students. The study focused especially on the roles professional development may play in creating students' inequitable experiences with new literacies.;Examined through the lens of Kincheloe and McLaren's (2005) reconceptualized critical theory: hegemony and ideology, this research study discovered educational practices, including professional development about literacy and technology integration, that have possible roles in reproducing inequalities in education.

Through this study, differences in English learner (EL) enrollment and performance in Advanced Placement (AP) English courses were analyzed before and after a 1:1 digital implementation in a large urban school district. Moreover, differences in economically disadvantaged (ED) EL enrollment and performance in AP English courses were examined before and after 1:1 digital implementation. To complete the analysis, archival AP English course enrollment incidences from 2014-2019 were analyzed utilizing chi-square tests of independence. Archival AP English examination scores from 2014 through 2019 were analyzed utilizing two-way ANOVAs. This study revealed that the proportions of both EL and non-EL course enrollment incidences in AP English courses increased after 1:1 digital implementation. Moreover, the proportion of EL and non-EL examination scores of 3 or above decreased by less than 1% for both groups three years after 1:1 digital implementation. In analysis by individual AP course, AP English Language and Composition examination scores at 3 or above increased for both groups. AP English Literature and Composition examination scores of 3 or above decreased for both groups. Statistically significant differences in mean examination scores were associated with EL status and the years related to 1:1 digital implementation. Additionally, the proportion of ED EL course enrollment incidences increased, while the proportion of non-ED EL course enrollment incidences decreased after 1:1 digital implementation. AP English Language and Composition examination scores at 3 or above increased for both groups, while AP English Literature and Composition examination scores at 3 or above decreased for both ED ELs and non-ED ELs. Differences in mean examination scores were found to be statistically significant for each variable: economic status and years of 1:1 digital implementation. Educators and policymakers may utilize the findings of this study to shape specific supports for ELs in a 1:1 digital environment.

This study investigated the Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) English Language Arts (ELA) scores of proficient third-grade students and explored trends in achievement or decline on the FSA in fourth grade. Further, this study explored the relationship of school environment to academic outcomes of Black and Hispanic fourth-grade public school students in terms of FSA ELA scores from third to fourth grade. This study used multiple statistical analyses on pre-existing de-identified data to explore learning gains by race/ethnicity. By focusing on and studying only one school district, this study provides conclusive results connecting learning gains and ethnicity in specific instances, but not in others. Recommendations were made for modification of the study design, future applications of these findings, and continued research in the various stages of academic achievement of the target student populations, in addition to identifying discrete factors or combinations of factors that best support all students' learning gains.

This corpus-based, qualitative descriptive study examines the vocabulary in digital science resources for middle school students in the United States. In brief, two corpora, each of approximately 2.7 million tokens, were assembled: the Digital Science Corpus (DSC) and the Digital Fiction Corpus (DFC). The 3,456 digital science resources included in the DSC were selected based on the findings of a detailed survey of 91 U.S.-based middle school teachers. In this study, AntWordProfile (Anthony, 2021), AntConc (Anthony, 2019), and WordSmith Tools (Scott, 2020) were used to (a) lexically profile the corpus to determine the vocabulary load of vocabulary in the corpus, (b) lexically profile the corpus to estimate the extent to which a combination of well-known word lists (GSL+AWL+ EAP Science List, the top 570 AVL word families, GSL+MSVL for Science) might help students to reach text coverage that could result in reasonable comprehension of the texts in the corpus (i.e., lexical coverage), and (c) create a Digital Science List (DSL) that captures the most frequent words types in the corpus. The word types in the DSL were validated with the Digital Fiction Corpus (DFC), a corpus formed from an approximately equal number of tokens as the DSC but gathered from fiction novels. The findings of this study show that the top 570 word families in the AVL (Gardner & Davies, 2014) provide 75% more lexical coverage in the digital corpus than the 570 word families in the older AWL (Coxhead, 2000) (10.07% vs. 5.76%). To reach a threshold of 95% coverage that is conventionally deemed to facilitate minimal reading comprehension (Laufer, 2020), middle school (MS) students must recognize the first 6,000 most frequent BNC/COCA (Nation, 2012) word families plus proper nouns or the first 11,000 most frequent BNC/COCA word families without proper nouns. Furthermore, to reach 98% coverage for optimal reading comprehension of digital science texts requires recognizing words within the 19,000 most frequent word families in the BNC/COCA plus proper nouns. In contrast, the GSL, AWL, and EAP Science List with far fewer word families ( < 3,000) offer a striking 88.35% lexical coverage across the corpus, while the GSL and the MSVL for Science with fewer than 2,500 word families offer a remarkable 87.79% lexical coverage across the corpus. The DSL produced from this research identified 412 types based on seven corpus-based and judgment-based criteria. The lexical profiling analysis of the DSL across the DSC revealed that the DSL provides 8.64% lexical coverage. While the DSL can be used as a teaching and learning tool in middle school classrooms, this list is specifically helpful for second language (L2) because it contains 136 general high-frequency types with a specialized meaning (e.g., dating, work, etc.). The study addresses methodological, theoretical, and pedagogical implications so that middle school learners can gain better support in their science vocabulary development and achieve better science reading comprehension of digital science texts.

This critical discourse analysis was conducted to determine how if the language used in the depictions of mental illness (specifically anxiety) in two young adult (YA) fiction texts is accurate in alignment with the diagnostic criteria of anxiety disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th Ed., DSM-5). This study analyzes the YA novels You Asked for Perfect by Laura Silverman (2019) and Under Rose-Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall (2016). Further, this study explored how the depictions of the protagonists in these two realistic YA fiction novels provide authentic behaviors about anxiety disorders. This study determined that You Asked for Perfect by Laura Silverman (2019) and Under Rose-Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall (2016) are in alignment with the diagnostic criteria provided in the DSM-5. Further, it determined that the depictions in these novels provide authentic behaviors about anxiety disorders through their capacity to provide readers with a safe space to explore the impact of anxiety on the protagonists' experiences, behaviors, identities, and social relationships. This study is significant in that it provides an analysis of two YA novel to determine if the depictions of anxiety disorders that are being provided to readers are accurate and that they align to the diagnostic criteria in the DSM-5.