<p> Assistive technology is used in education to support and increase students&rsquo; learning. Many of these are math and science virtual manipulative applications, studies of which are well documented. Studies documenting the effects of social studies software on special education students, however, are scarce due to the small number of applications and the difficulty of gathering consistent data. This is because students often suffer from mental, emotional, behavioral and physical instability. This study was intended to determine whether assistive technology is beneficial in this regard. The study used Study Island software, which provides students and teachers self-adjusting, customizable social studies coursework. The study examined the suitability of the software in increasing the academic performance of middle school special education students at Pandale School, a public separate school. This quantitative, experimental study compared two sets of randomly assigned students who used identical learning materials, presented in either print or software form. The demographics of the school dictated the participant pool, which consisted of 11-20-year-old African American males. Using two mixed model ANOVAs, the pretest and posttest scores and test completion times of each group were compared to determine the software's efficacy. Every experimental group participant saw an increase in test scores from pretest to posttest. After controlling for preexisting conditions, it was observed that the type of instruction variable explained 18% of the test score variance between groups, as represented by partial <i>&eta;²</i>, <i>p</i> &lt; .0001, indicating a rejection of the null hypothesis and a finding that the software had a positive effect on the participants' test scores. An analysis of test completion times for the pretest (<i>M</i> = 43.64) and posttest (<i>M</i> = 33.23) showed that the mean test scores differed significantly, <i> F</i>(1.000, 38.0000 = 90.184, <i>p</i> = 0.001) from pretest to posttest and amongst both groups, and suggested that the null hypothesis should not be rejected and that the Study Island virtual manipulative had neither positive nor negative effect on test completion times. Study results indicated the usefulness of Study Island as one tool of many in the classroom. Future studies targeting specific demographics and student needs are indicated. </p>

<p> The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to determine if the literacy intervention program for reluctant readers in one middle school was effective as measured by an increase in student reading scores measured by the Student Reading Inventory Assessment. I investigated perceptions of 100 students and 28 teachers regarding the literacy intervention program through the use of district-administered surveys. I also interviewed eight teachers regarding their delivery of the literacy interventions in the classroom setting.</p><p> The literacy intervention program targeted the population of students identified as reluctant readers who were not already receiving any reading intervention, but were reading below grade level. The study investigated whether or not the intervention contributed to an increase in student reading abilities with 44 students who read 0 to 6 months below grade level, as measured by the Student Reading Inventory Assessment. The study also investigated eight teachers' opinions of professional development that was implemented in 2014-2015 that focused on literacy instruction across all content areas, other than English Language Arts.</p>

<p> In recent years students' academic engagement has gained increasing favor as a necessary component of authentic learning experiences. However, less research has focused on what students do when they run into everyday problems in school that allows them to return (or not) to a state of ongoing engagement. Expanding on these ideas, this project explores students' <i>motivational resilience</i> in school, that is, the dynamic interactions among their ongoing engagement, emotional reactivity, academic coping, and re-engagement after encounters with difficulties and setbacks in school. Grounded in an established motivational model based on Deci &amp; Ryan's (1985) self-determination theory, and building on earlier studies suggesting that these components of motivational resilience form self-reinforcing internal dynamics (Skinner, Pitzer, &amp; Steele, 2015), this project comprises two free-standing manuscripts that examined key components of this process. </p><p> Study 1 explored the external dynamics of motivational resilience within a single school year to identify the extent to which outside forces (e.g., students' experiences of teacher support and self-system processes) can shape students' motivational systems which tend to be self-sustaining. The study used data from 1020 3^rd through 6^th grade students to examine feedforward and feedback effects between students' composite motivational resilience and a set of hypothesized antecedents and consequences, and also investigated whether teacher support can shift established motivational patterns. </p><p> Study 2 looked more closely at motivational resilience and its antecedents and consequences as students made the transition from elementary to middle school. Data following 281 students as they moved from fifth to sixth grade were used to test a structural model examining the extent to which students' ongoing engagement and teacher support act as resources that encourage adaptive coping and re-engagement, which then lead to continued engagement and subsequent achievement. Students' coping was explored as a particularly important mediator between students' resources at the beginning of fifth grade and their subsequent motivational actions and achievement. The study also examined differences in patterns of motivation across the transition for students who had high levels of teacher support and adaptive coping profiles as compared with students who had fewer of such resources. </p><p> This project provides a deeper understanding of students' experiences in dealing with everyday challenges and struggles in school, especially during the transition to middle school. Discussion focuses on the utility and potential drawbacks of examining the individual components of students' motivational resilience through this conceptual lens, with suggestions for next steps for future research. Implications of this model for improving students' academic development highlight the important role teachers can play in supporting or undermining students' ability to bounce back after encounters with setbacks. </p>

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<p> The purpose of the qualitative descriptive case study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of middle school general educators using Individual Education Plans (IEPs) of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The study participants consisted of 13 teachers selected from two public middle schools in a suburban county in the State of Georgia. The descriptive case study examined six links associated with the phenomena. The links were inclusion, a description of ASD complexities, and the global significance. Other links to the phenomena were the middle school structure, the legal ramifications, and stakeholder involvement. The six themes and three subthemes developed from the analytic generalizations related to the research question. The data collection procedure included semi-structured face-to-face interviews. Data analysis included using NVivo 10 software to code, organize, and categorize data. The results of the study recommended training and support for general educators using the IEPs of ASD students in middle schools. The conclusion of the study acknowledged the necessity for allowing general educators to make suggestions and accommodations to update middle school IEPs. The study recommended five suggestions to improve the education of middle school ASD students. Three of the recommendations were a project study, developing middle school mini IEPs, and detailed structuring to manage on-going training sessions. Also, parent and student meetings and meet and greet sessions can stabilize parent, student, and every middle school general educator&rsquo;s involvement. </p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the teaching practice and educational beliefs of four middle grades teachers who were identified as effective in forging relationships with their students. In this study, relational expertise is defined as the ability to create a positive connection with students, one in which students feel recognized and valued as individuals. This research answers questions concerning (a) how the teachers define teacher-student relationships, (b) how and why they use relational skills in classrooms, (c) the strategies they use for developing and maintaining relationships and (d) the outcomes of relational teaching they identify. </p><p> Data collection included interviews and classroom observations of teacher participants and the collection of documentary evidence such as teacher evaluations and photographs of classroom artifacts. The data were analyzed and the cases were compared in a search for themes and patterns. The case studies were written as narrative portraits to record the thoughts and classroom experience of the participants and to provide a detailed view of their principles in action. Their stories provide a sense of what it is like to experience the classroom operations of the participants and allow the teachers to explain the rationale for what they do. </p><p> The participant teachers care deeply about the well-being and healthy development of students and strive to provide a nurturing classroom climate that meets the students&rsquo; psychological as well as cognitive needs. Their use of immediacy behaviors and other relationship-establishing techniques was a result of their personal beliefs about effective teaching.</p>

<p> Writing instruction in schools is taking on increasingly narrow focuses, which reflects reliance on high-stakes standardized tests and standards movements that privilege some forms of writing over others. Researchers in writing have called for studies that connect macro forces influencing the educational environment to the instruction occurring at the classroom level. This study does so by exploring how a teacher sponsors multiple writing literacies across time and how and why students take up those writing practices for their intended uses and in ways that serve their own purposes. I examine the writing instruction of one skilled English Language Arts teacher through the lens of Deborah Brandt&rsquo;s theory of <i>sponsors of literacy</i> (1998; 2009) and through sociocultural theories of writing (Prior, 2004, 2006; Englert, Mariage, &amp; Dunsmore, 2006) and identity (Davies &amp; Harr&eacute;, 1999; Holland, Lachicotte, Skinner, &amp; Cain, 1998; Lave &amp; Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998). Data drew from a) five months of observations in the classroom across multiple units of instruction marked by multiple writing practices; b) interviews with the teacher before and after the observation period; and c) interviews with five focal students at the end of the observation period. Findings suggest that the teacher&rsquo;s instruction reflected a variety of sponsors across multiple writing practices. The teacher&rsquo;s instruction highlighted the skills, values, and purposes associated with sponsored writing practices. Students appropriated some writing practices more than others, and some more faithfully to the intentions of sponsors than others. Students imagined a range of possible uses for the writing practices in which they were sponsored, reflective of their individual literate identities.</p>

<p> The intent of this qualitative research study was to investigate the experiences of eighth-grade readers as they read nonfiction text on an iPad for academic purposes. Analysis of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) calls for close reading requiring readers to interact with the text to create meaning (Fisher, n.d.). With this in mind, the researcher investigated reading strategies students used to support their reading as well as what role the iPad features played in the reading process. Several theoretical perspectives informed the framework for this study: (a) New Literacies theory, (b) transactional theory, (c) constructivist theory, and (d) metacognition theory. These perspectives focused on the reading comprehension strategies students used to facilitate reading comprehension while reading nonfiction text on an e-reader, specifically on an iPad. Data sources for this study included the following: (a) retrospective think alouds; (b) student questionnaire about iPad knowledge and experiences; (c) pre-study student interview; (d) post-study student interview; (e) Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI); (f) student observations; and (g) teacher interview. Preselection data for the collective case study participants were used to identify proficient readers who displayed confidence, competency, and control over text. The criteria used for participant selection included (a) reading skills using Lexile Levels, (b) MARSI survey, and (c) iPad use survey to determine prior knowledge of iPad. Three themes emerged in the collective case study that were directly related to the analysis. Students used a combination of (a) reading comprehension strategies, (b) nonfiction features, and (c) iPad features to support their reading of nonfiction on the iPad. Analysis of the data revealed three distinct groups for which recommendations were made: (a) classroom teachers, (b) publishers, and (c) researchers.</p>

<p> In the fall of 2008 Westside Community Schools &ndash; District 66, in Omaha, Nebraska implemented a one-to-one notebook computer take home model for all eighth-grade students. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a required yearlong one-to-one notebook computer program supported by high-speed Internet connectivity at school on (a) English, (b) math, (c) reading, (d) science, and (e) composite score norm-referenced EXPLORE achievement test scores, District's Criterion-Referenced Descriptive Writing Assessment scores, and classroom performance grade point average (GPA) scores for the core subjects (a) English, (b) science, (c) social studies, and (d) cumulative GPA scores of eighth-grade students who do not have high-speed Internet connectivity at home (<i>n</i> = 19) compared to eighth-grade students eligible (<i>n</i> = 19) and not eligible (<i>n</i> = 19) for free and reduced price lunch program participation who do have high-speed Internet connectivity at home. The results of this study support the implementation of a one-to-one notebook computer program as a systematic intervention to improve student achievement. Furthermore, all within group pretest-posttest gains and between group posttest-posttest equipoise demonstrated that the achievement gap between students eligible and students not eligible for free or reduced price lunch participation with or without high-speed Internet connectivity at home had been mitigated through participation in the school-wide one-to-one notebook computer program. While the one-to-one notebook eighth-grade computer program in this study may not be singled out solely for between group posttest equipoise causality, its inclusion as a fundamental academic programmatic component of this middle school's curriculum should be considered as a contributing factor.</p>

<p> Saint Anne's Middle School is a Catholic, bilingual, bicultural, middle school for girls that participates in the Milwaukee Parental School Choice Program. This case study explored reading and language arts as experienced in the school through the lens of a school library media specialist. The students&rsquo; social, emotional, and intellectual needs appeared to be met at the school for the most part. The school also exhibited best practices for teaching reading at the middle school level to bilingual students. However, to improve reading, the school would want to consider changing the school&rsquo;s focus from reading comprehension to reading engagement so that students become lifelong readers. In addition, as schools begin to roll out the new educational framework known as the Common Core, which will change how librarians and teachers present reading, and standardized tests assess reading, it is essential that more time be dedicated to exploring point-of-view in informational texts. Finally, because the students tend to score lower on vocabulary than comprehension in reading assessments, increasing the use of free-reading books to introduce vocabulary may provide further opportunities for students to improve on standardized test scores while teaching a valuable lifelong skill. In sum, even a strong school can improve on reading and language arts instruction, and this project shows ways that teachers and librarians can change their thinking to be ready to implement Common Core and still achieve reading engagement.</p>