This study examined the interrelationships among the following variables: (a) students' current motivational style--through the use of the Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ), (b) academic achievement--assessed through the Reading Comprehension and Mathematics Computation subtests of the California Achievement Test (CAT),(c) satisfaction with classroom structure--as measured by the Attitude toward Learning Processes Scale (ALP), (d) grade level, and (e) gender. The sample of 105 third and 101 sixth graders chosen to represent a diverse ethnic and socioeconomic sample, responded to the two self-report instruments, the SRQ and ALP. Their scores on these measures were compared with their reading comprehension and mathematics computation subtest scores on the CAT. Statistical analyses included the Pearson product-moment correlation, t-test of the correlation coefficient, z-test for the difference between independent correlations and a two- or three-way analysis of variance. The findings from this study indicated that third graders showed more significant and consistent relationships among all three dependent variables than their sixth grade counterparts. Third graders were likely to report more internal motivational styles, show a higher correlation between a more internalized motivational style with higher achievement test scores, and report more satisfaction with classroom structure and overall level of motivation. Third graders who had low scores on mathematics computation were slightly more likely to be externally motivated. There were no grade level differences noted regarding the external motivational style. Males showed a weak positive relationship between a more internalized motivational style with mathematics computation, while their female counterparts did not. Females had higher scores on the identified motivational style (task involvement) than their male peers. The implications of these results were discussed as they impact on educators' choice of motivational strategies to meet the individual needs of their students.

No description available.

No description available.

The performance measures from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study revealed no measurable growth in the U.S. average reading scores of 4th graders for the period between 2011 and 2016. Therefore, the diverse learning needs of students need to be customized if the education system is to accomplish its goal to graduate well-informed individuals capable of sustaining a lifestyle conducive to a democratic society. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of differentiated instruction on 3rd graders' reading comprehension. The theoretical foundation for this teaching approach was Vygotsky's zone of proximal development. The research question focused on a comparison of differentiated and nondifferentiated instruction and the effects on 3rd graders' Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) reading comprehension scores. In this cross-sectional, quasi-experimental causal comparative study with N = 128 3rd-grade students, archival PARCC reading scores for the years 2015, 2016, and 2017 were analyzed with several 2-tailed independent sample t tests to determine the differences between the groups. The students in the experimental group (n = 64) received differentiated instruction, students in the non-experimental group received nondifferentiated instruction (n = 64). The duration of the intervention lasted for the entire school year. The statistical analysis results revealed that differentiated instruction significantly improved the students' PARCC reading scores in all 3 years. The intimation for positive social change is allowing stakeholders to provide opportunities to teachers to learn and apply differentiated instruction for their students, thus helping them to become proficient readers, which in turn might increase the human capital contributing to and competing in a global society.

The gap that exists between English language learners and English speaking students’ achievement in mathematics continues to grow. Moreover, students are now required to show evidence of their mathematics knowledge through writing in standardized assessments and class assignments. The purpose of this study was to analyze students’ writing in mathematics and the metacognitive behaviors they portrayed through their writing as they solved mathematics problems. The instruments included a pretest, two biweekly tests, and a posttest. The writing instruction encompassed students learning to solve problems by using Polya’s four phases of problem solving which was completed in 12 sessions over a period of 6 weeks. Garofalo and Lester’s framework which renamed Polya’s phases into orientation, organization, execution, and verification, was used to look at the metacognitive behaviors students used. The participants included 67 students enrolled in four third grade classes, who were English language learners and English speakers. This research followed a quasi-experimental design, with a treatment group and a control group. A one-way repeated ANOVA was used to analyze the data. The findings showed no significant difference between the mathematics achievement scores of treatment and control. However, growth trends in achievement scores revealed that the treatment group scores were increasing faster than the control group scores across the four tests during the 6-week study. Moreover, significant differences were found between the treatment and the control groups when the problem solving with metacognitive behaviors scores were analyzed. Descriptive statistics showed the frequency of occurrence of each of the problem solving phases increased steadily across the four tests for the students in the treatment group. During the posttest, 100% of treatment group students wrote about metacognitive behaviors they used during the orientation and organization phases, 91.4% wrote about their metacognition for executing the solution, and 80% wrote about the verification process they followed. These findings are useful to education professionals who are interested in creating programs for teaching mathematics at the elementary level that include effective problem solving practices. This evidence-based method may be adopted in school districts with large populations of ELLs in order to assist these students when solving problems in mathematics.