The purpose of the study was to assess elementary students' science process skills, content knowledge, and concept knowledge after one year of participation in an elementary Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) program. This study documented the effects of the combination of intensive professional development and the use of inquiry-based science instruction in the elementary classroom, including the benefits of using rigorous science curriculum with general education students. The results of the study revealed a statistically significant gain in science process skills, science concepts, and science-content knowledge by general education students in the experimental group when compared with students in the comparison group. Moreover, teacher participation in the STEM program had a statistically significant impact on students' variability in posttest scores. These interim student performance data support the implementation of rigorous differentiated science curriculum focused on improving science concept, content knowledge, and process skills.

The purpose of this experimental study was to investigate the effects of metacognitive reflective assessment instruction on student achievement in mathematics. The study compared the performance of 141 students who practiced reflective assessment strategies with students who did not. A posttest-only control group design was employed, and results were analyzed by conducting one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and nonparametric procedures. On both a posttest and a retention test, students who practiced reflective strategies performed significantly higher than students who did not use the strategies. A within-subjects ANOVA was also conducted six weeks following the intervention to assess how the factor of time affected retention levels. No significant difference was found between the posttest and retention test results for the experimental groups or the control group.

Validating and generalizing from holistic observation protocols of classroom practice have proven difficult. These tools miss crucial classroom characteristics, like the type of instruction, the organization of learners, and the level of cognitive engagement that occur differentially in the time span of a lesson. As a result, this study examined the potential of interaction analysis for drawing detailed inferences about science classrooms. Holistic and interaction analysis techniques were applied to an existing set of observational data from a group of high school teachers (N = 21) who were participating in long-term professional development. Results indicate that interaction analysis provides crucial details that are otherwise absent. Questions are raised about the overall benefit and use of holistic observation protocols without supplemental information.

Research and theory suggest several instructional practices that could enhance student self-efficacy. However, little is known about the ways these instructional practices interact with individual students to create opportunities or challenges for developing adaptive self-efficacy. In this study, we focused on two sources of efficacy, mastery experiences, and social persuasion, and examined how these sources were structured for three students with different levels of mathematics achievement and self-efficacy within a sixth-grade mathematics classroom. Analyses within each case showed that each student experienced success and received social persuasion differently. On the other hand, analyses across the cases suggest that not only the amount but also the form (i.e., with and without assistance) of successful experiences and the type of performances (e.g., stating definitions, explaining solution procedures, sharing problem-solving strategies, and making comments on others' ideas) through which the student experienced mastery may have played important role in developing self-efficacy. Consistently, the amount and form of teacher feedback was different for each focal student. Examining these differences provide insight into each student's self-efficacy assessed over the course of the study as well as the kind of support each student needed to develop adaptive self-efficacy.