Each year, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), asks thousands of schools and students to participate in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Their participation allows NCES to provide accurate information nationwide on how U.S. students perform in a variety of academic subjects. The NAEP uses a multistage…

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has been conducting the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) since 1969. In addition to conducting regular assessments in reading, mathematics, science, and writing, the NAEP conducts assessments in other subjects, such as geography, U.S. history, civics, and the arts. Each national…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 30 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: use of short and long passages in informal reading inventories, components in decoding spelling patterns, the psycholinguistic analysis of oral reading miscues and…

This document consists of articles 1 through 14 of volume 6 of "Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation": (1) "Seven Myths about Literacy in the United States" (Jeff McQuillan); (2) "Implementing Performance Assessment in the Classroom" (Amy Brualdi); (3) "Some Evaluation Questions" (William Shadish); (4) "Item Banking" (Lawrence Rudner); (5)…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 1998 Civics Assessment found that 12th-graders who participated in volunteer service had higher scores than those who did not. Furthermore, 12th-graders who worked 6 to 15 hours a week had higher scores than those who either worked longer hours or did not work at all. (Contains two tables and…

This fourth in a four-part series on why academic achievement gaps exist describes the Minority Achievement Committee scholars program at Shaker Heights High School in Cleveland, Ohio, a powerful antidote to the achievement gap between minority and white and Asian American students. It explains the need to break down stereotypes about academic…

Data from the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) 1998 Reading Report Card show increased scores for low-performing students in the 4th and 8th grades in 1998 as compared to 1994, but no change at the 12th grade. Scores for low-performing students in the 8th grade were higher in 1998 than in either 1994 or 1992. Scores for…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 27 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) electrodermal responses and informal reading criteria; (2) a comparison of standardized reading test scores, informal reading inventory results, and miscue…

Papers in this collection focus on diverse issues in literacy ranging from motivation to wordless books to professional development schools. Papers in the collection, and their authors, are as follows: "The New Literacy and Reading Workshop: How Comfortable Is Too Comfortable?" (Jeanne Henry); "Fostering Reading Motivation: Insights…

This document is comprised of the six issues in volume 16 of the Harvard Education Letter, a bimonthly newsletter addressing current issues in elementary and secondary education. Articles in this volume include the following: (1) January-February--"Grade Inflation: What's Really behind All Those A's?" (Birk) and "Every Friday was Fight Day"…

Three articles on current research in testing are presented. The first article, "Testing in the Schools", discusses the role of testing in educational reform. In the 1980s, the overwhelming purpose of state standardized testing has become promoting accountability in areas of: (1) monitoring; (2) gatekeeping; (3) remediation; and (4)…