The Impact of Noncognitive Skills on Student Achievement in Elementary-age Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has created one of the largest disruptions in educational history. The impact on learning loss and social-emotional well-being from the pandemic threatens to compromise achievement outcomes for an extended number of years. Previous research has proven relationships between grit, growth mindset, self-efficacy, and academic achievement (Duckworth, 2016; Duckworth et al., 2007; Dweck, 2008), but little is known about the validity of noncognitive constructs and academic achievement in elementary-age students, particularly how the relationship between these variables affected student achievement during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to determine if noncognitive traits had a relationship with achievement in elementary-age students during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, the noncognitive constructs of grit, growth mindset, self-efficacy, and self-management were analyzed for correlation with the achievement variables in the universal screeners, i-Ready math and English language arts (ELA). It was found that students with higher self-management were more likely to have higher math achievement. Self-management was the only statistically significant variable with achievement of the noncognitive constructs measured. It was also found that students with higher self-management typically had higher self-efficacy. A significant change in i-Ready math achievement was found resulting in an average 5-point decrease in scores over time. Change was also found in i-Ready ELA over time, resulting in a 22-point increase in the average scores. This research adds to the understanding that cognitive abilities alone do not fully predict a student’s academic achievement (Micceri, 2010; Nichols & Clinedinst, 2013)

Improving Outreach & Collaboration

The module is designed to assist teachers and educational leaders in navigating resources that will aid in parent outreach. Henderson, Mapp, Johnson and Davies (2007) give four core beliefs to build strong partnerships between the home and school: 1. All families have dreams for their children and want what is best for them, 2. All families have the capacity to support their children’s learning, 3. Parents and school staff should be equal partners, 4. Responsibility for building and sustaining partnerships between school and home rests primarily with school staff, especially school leaders. The module, based on those four core principles, provides tools to provide outreach through the lens of partnership, interaction, and feedback to and from families. This module will help educators in learning how to develop trust and understand the families that make up their school communities in the effort to foster comprehensive involvement and improve the overall culture of the school. View professional learning module.https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/improve/1015/thumbnail.jp

Archeological Investigations in the Upper Trinity River Basin in Parker County, Texas

Homer Norris (1929-2018), a commercial artist by profession and a life-time resident of eastern Parker County, in North-Central Texas, in the South Fork and Clear Fork drainages of the upper Trinity River basin, roamed the landscape from at least 30-50 years ago in search of archeological evidence of Native American use and settlement in the basin. He took and maintained detailed notes, records, and drawings of the sites he found and the artifacts he recovered, as well as pertinent information on the context of finds, including those noted eroding out of stream cut banks and in stream beds of the South Fork and Clear Fork in the Anetta-Aledo areas of Parker County, about 15 miles west of Fort Worth, an area of about 5 miles on a side. This information, made available by his daughter Lanie Garmon of Aledo, Texas, from his archeological investigations is detailed herein, along with a summary of how his investigations contribute to a fuller understanding of the native history of this region of Texas