Educators around the world are increasingly likely to have dual language learners (DLLs) –  students learning multiple languages – in their classrooms. When DLLs struggle academically, educators may have difficulty determining if their challenges relate to dual language development or an underlying specific learning disability (SLD). The difference can be hard to detect. DLLs and … More DLL or SLD? Linguistically Responsive Assessment Can Help Decide

Being surveyed is now a routine part of life for many people, especially students, who might fill out course evaluations, mental health checklists, and questionnaires about their substance use multiple times in a single year. Recall your thoughts the last time you were surveyed about something personal: Why are they asking me this? What are … More Truth in Survey Research

Catholic schools are receiving renewed attention in policy, as school choice becomes an increasing priority for the current presidential administration. Catholic schools comprise about half of all private school options in the United States, which means they are a large portion of school choice for parents and their kids. However, most of the research on … More The Catholic School Advantage

The world watched as Harry and Meghan announced their engagement. Yes, Harry Stephens and Meghan Johnson were engaged with their school. School engagement is a key aspect of ensuring successful student learning. Encouraging and nurturing engagement with school becomes more and more difficult as students progress through their k-12 education. At the high school level, … More Planning to get engaged

Going to college is an important step on the pathway to success for many students. Helping create a culture of college success is one way a college or university can help students as the make the transition from secondary to postsecondary education. Numerous programs and initiatives have been created to directly address this issue of … More Creating a College-going Culture

Schooling in the United States relies on testing – a lot of testing – to sort students and evaluate programs and schools. When it comes to reading, tests gather information on student skills such as reading comprehension or reading ability. However, many of these tests don’t s provide information to teachers about exaclty how their … More A Reading Measure that can Inform Teaching!

In just two years, between 2013 and 2015, there were 254 school shootings (defined as a gun being fired on school grounds) in the United States. Between 2000 and 2015, there were 15 active shooter incidents at higher education institutes – leaving 70 dead and 73 injured. Although there is debate about how to measure … More Understanding and Addressing The Impact of School Shootings on College Students

The Maker Movement The Maker Movement celebrates the transition from technological consumer to producer, emphasizing the need for all individuals to learn the skills necessary to critically create in the modern world (Blikstein, 2013). While this movement started in tech-centric hackerspaces, K-12 administrators and teachers are now considering the power that making holds to rethink … More Fidgeting with Fabrication

Across mental health outcomes, youth of color often have less access to mental health services and poorer quality mental health services than their White peers. Diagnoses of specific disorders are also unequal. Given a specific set of behaviors, youth of color tend to be diagnosed with conduct disorder or oppositional defiance disorder while their White … More Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Mental Health

Each fall, numerous efforts among educators are made to ensure that student attendance is a top priority. Pioneered by the nonprofit AttendanceWorks, September is now recognized as national attendance awareness month. As evidence of the success of such campaigns, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Torlakson, also recently recognized September as Attendance Awareness Month for … More When Students Miss School