In 2002/03, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools initiated a broad program of accelerating entry into algebra coursework. The proportion of moderately-performing students taking 8th grade algebra increased from less than half to nearly 90%, then reverted to baseline levels, in the span of just six age cohorts. We use this policy-induced variation to…

Redistributing highly effective teachers from low- to high-need schools is an education policy tool that is at the center of several major current policy initiatives. The underlying assumption is that teacher productivity is portable across different schools settings. Using elementary and secondary school data from North Carolina and Florida, this…

PIRLS is an international assessment of reading comprehension at the fourth grade that has been conducted every five years since 2001. In 2011, nationally representative samples of students in 49 countries participated in PIRLS and prePIRLS. Forty-five countries assessed fourth grade students, and some countries participated in one or more of the…

We use data on statewide end-of-course tests in North Carolina to examine the relationship between teacher credentials and student achievement at the high school level. The availability of test scores in multiple subjects for each student permits us to estimate a model with student fixed effects, which helps minimize any bias associated with the…

The Columbus (Ohio) Public Schools administers the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) districtwide to document the learning which has occurred and to guide classroom teachers and administrators as they establish curricula which is responsive to student needs. This report presents the results from the tests administered in April, 1986 to…

Spring 1984 achievement test results for court-identified, minority isolated (MI) schools in the San Diego Unified School District are reported. The Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) were used to measure progress in the areas of reading, language, and mathematics. Language and math scores trended upwards across grades; reading also…

This publication reports on student achievement in the basic skills of reading and mathematics at Years 5 and 7 in 52 urban schools of the Northern Territory of Australia in 1986, the third year of implementation of the Primary Assessment Program (PAP). PAP has been acknowledged by the national committee of the Australian Cooperative Assessment…