Since 2007, nineteen Houston Independent School District (HISD) campuses have partnered with Literacy Now to offer the Reading Intervention program. The Reading Intervention program provides individualized, small group reading tutorials for at-risk students in kindergarten to second grade to create proficient readers by the end of third grade.…

This study provides a first look at how student college- and career-readiness have progressed in the early years of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) implementation. It is motivated by concern that changes triggered by the standards transition might be disruptive to student learning in the short run, even when those changes may become…

The "Experimental Evaluation of the Tools of the Mind Pre-K Curriculum" study was designed to compare the effectiveness of the "Tools of the Mind" ("Tools") curriculum to the curricula the school system is currently using in enhancing children's self-regulation skills and their academic preparation for kindergarten.…

This report highlights several trends in Oregon that show the correlation between chronic absenteeism and various academic outcomes. Oregon student patterns follow the national trend in that students with better attendance have better outcomes. Fifth-grade chronic absenteeism is a moderately strong predictor of chronic absenteeism in subsequent…

This brief describes the impact of the Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools (MCPS) 2007-2008 full-day Head Start prekindergarten (pre-K) class model on student academic performance, cognitive skills, and learning behaviors by the end of Grade 2. This is the fourth impact study of the MCPS full-day Head Start pre-K class model. The following…

During a period when the school-age language-minority population grew, from 8.8 million in 1999 to 10.8 million in 2007 (U.S. Department of Education 2010, indicator 5), the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K) tracked the educational experiences of a nationally representative sample of children who were in…

The experimental evaluation of the "Tools of the Mind Pre-K Curriculum" described in this report was designed to examine the effectiveness of the "Tools of the Mind" ("Tools") curriculum for enhancing children's self-regulation skills and their academic preparation for kindergarten when compared to the usual…

This report focuses on the extent to which students who are academically far off track in fourth or eighth grade in Arkansas catch up by eighth or eleventh and twelfth grades. We studied two recent cohorts of Arkansas students whose eighth-grade ACT Explore® scores were more than one standard deviation below the ACT Explore Benchmark scores…

Commencing in 2011, the Mathematics Academies Initiative is a series of professional development academies (lasting 1 to 2 years, depending on cohort) with the primary objectives of (a) providing educators with a high quality professional development experience that enhances their mathematical content knowledge and pedagogical skills, and (b)…

Recess periods often lack the structure needed to support physical activity and positive social development (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 2010). The Playworks program places full-time coaches in low-income schools to provide opportunities for organized play during recess and throughout the school day. Playworks activities are designed to engage…

This report focuses on the extent to which students who are academically far off track in fourth or eighth grade in Kentucky catch up by eighth or eleventh grade. We studied three recent cohorts of Kentucky students whose eighth-grade ACT Explore® scores were more than one standard deviation below the ACT Explore benchmark scores associated with…

Results after two years of using three reading comprehension curricula show gains from one program and no effects for the other two on reading comprehension for fifth-graders, according to a study released by the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance in the Institute of Education Sciences. The study focused on whether…

This report uses data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K) to describe the middle school experiences of the cohort. The ECLS-K followed the educational, socioemotional, and physical development of a nationally representative sample of kindergartners in public and private schools in the United States…

Project Early Kindergarten (PEK) aims to improve the school-readiness of Saint Paul children and help close the achievement gap through offering high-quality educational experiences for preschool children. This report comes at the conclusion of the sixth year of PEK. Following an initial planning year (2004-05), PEK has served children through the…

KIPP Ujima Village Academy is a member of the KIPP (Knowledge is Power) National Network of schools. The Baltimore KIPP serves approximately 300 students in Northwest Baltimore in grades 5-8; the school opened in Fall 2002 and converted to a charter school in 2005. This study analyzes four cohorts of 5th grade students in the Baltimore City Public…