Under the current version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), public schools must show consistent improvement in achievement for all students including English language learners (ELL) and students with disabilities. The assessment of ELL students and students with disabilities can present unique challenges to schools that must…

This report by the Center on Education Policy (CEP), an independent nonprofit organization, examines progress in raising achievement for English language learners. It also describes the factors that make it difficult to accurately assess what ELLs know and can do. The data for this analysis were collected by CEP with technical support from the…

In grade 8 (the only grade in which subgroup trends were analyzed by achievement level), Arkansas showed across-the-board gains--improvements in reading and math at the basic, proficient and advanced levels for all racial/ethnic subgroups, low income students, and boys and girls. The gains were quite large in most instances, especially at the…

In grade 8 (the only grade in which subgroup trends were analyzed by achievement level), Alabama students showed gains across the board in reading and math--at the basic, proficient, and advanced levels for all racial/ethnic subgroups, low income students, and boys and girls. Progress was made in narrowing achievement gaps between racial/ethnic…

Georgia has made some changes in its testing program in recent years. As a result, trend data were only available for reading in grades 4 and 8 from 2006 through 2009, and only at the proficient and advanced levels. In math, data were only available for the high school level from 2004 through 2009. Achievement data for low income students were…

This paper profiles the student subgroup achievement and gap trends in Iowa for 2010. In grade 8 (the only grade in which subgroup trends were analyzed by achievement level), Iowa had data for racial/ethnic subgroups, low income students, and boys and girls at the proficient and advanced levels. Trends at the proficient and advanced levels were…

This paper profiles the student subgroup achievement and gap trends in Vermont for 2010. Vermont's demographic profile is such that achievement trends could only be determined for white, male and female, and low-income student subgroups. In grade 8 (the only grade in which subgroup trends were analyzed by achievement level), the white, low-income,…

This paper profiles the student subgroup achievement and gap trends in South Dakota for 2010. South Dakota's demographic profile is such that, with the exception of Native American students, there are fewer than 500 students in the racial/ethnic subgroups at the various grade levels, and therefore these groups are too small to count for this…