International large-scale assessments are now part of the educational landscape in many countries and often feed into major policy decisions. Yet, such assessments also provide data sets for secondary analysis that can address key issues of concern to educators and policymakers alike. Traditionally, such secondary analyses have been based on a…

When New York state released the first results of the exams under the Common Core State Standards, many wrongly believed that the results showed dramatic declines in student achievement. A closer look at the results showed that student achievement may have increased. Another lesson from the exams is that states need to closely coordinate new data…

The federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) holds schools, districts, and states accountable for improving the academic achievement of all students, including the nearly 14% of public school students who receive special education services because they have an identified disability. By 2014, 100% of students with disabilities are expected to…

This article examines data from nine statewide administrations of the Idaho Comprehensive Literacy Assessment (ICLA) over three-years. The ICLA measures pre-service teachers' knowledge of research-based content and pedagogy related to reading instruction and assessment. The purpose of this article was first to examine pre-service candidates'…

Policy makers in states across the country are taking a hard look at prospective teachers and the colleges that train them. Anyone who seeks permanent certification to teach in elementary or secondary schools in most states is now required to achieve a qualifying score on a set of tests administered by the State Teacher Certification Examination…