This report looks at the provision of A level subjects in England in 2018. Provision in a subject is defined as the number or percentage of schools with at least one student taking the subject. It could be argued that this may not cover all of the 'provision' since schools might offer to provide a subject, but none of their students wants to study…

Read for Good's sponsored Readathon gives children in schools a purpose to read, combined with freedom to choose what they read, on their own terms, free from assessment or evaluation. The sponsorship money helps to provide a regular supply of new books and storyteller visits to the UK's major children's hospitals and supports school libraries.…

Each year the National Reference Test (NRT) reports the proportions of students achieving at or above three key GCSE grades in English and mathematics. The NRT is therefore uniquely placed as a Key Stage 4 assessment which compares performance directly at ability level, to contribute to the evidence on the impact of disruption to education due to…

This research brief provides an analysis of 2017-2018 AISD student data, showing significant gaps in school perceptions and experiences of transgender and gender-nonconforming students relative to their peers, illustrating the need for additional policies and procedures to support AISD transgender and gender-nonconforming students. A separate full…

This report outlines findings that relate to writing, taken from the third annual literacy survey, which was conducted in November/December 2012. 34,910 young people aged 8 to 16 participated. Key findings include: (1) 44.1% of children and young people enjoy writing either "very much" or "quite a lot"; 14.8% of children and…

In the Cognitively Based Assessment of, for, and as Learning ("CBAL"™) research initiative, innovative K-12 prototype tests based on cognitive competency models are developed. This report presents the statistical results of the 2 CBAL Grade 8 writing tests and 2 Grade 7 reading tests administered to students in 20 states in spring 2011.…

The project, "Oxford Improving Numeracy and Literacy Programme," was delivered by Oxford University Department of Education. This evaluation tested two different initiatives with Year 2 children: "Mathematics and Reasoning" and "Literacy and Morphemes." The "Mathematics and Reasoning" programme aimed to…

This report outlines findings about children's and young people's reading from our fourth annual literacy survey conducted in November/December 2013. 29,422 young people aged eight to 16 participated. Some of the key findings for 2013 include: (1) Levels of reading enjoyment have improved for the first time since 2005 (see Figure 2, p. 9); (2)…

This research brief presents the results of the authors' investigation into the changing expectations of employers on the competencies that they expect new college graduates to possess upon entry into their companies. The authors did not limit their focus to engineering and technical majors but cast their net to include all academic majors and…

This report reveals that children and young people are reading less and more are embarrassed to be seen reading, while many also believe that their parents don't care if they spend time reading. However, not only are children and young people reading less and developing more negative attitudes towards reading, but there is also a clear correlation…

This report presents second year information about the degree to which children and young people in Middlesbrough enjoy reading and writing, how often then engage in reading and writing, what types of materials they read and write and how they feel about reading and writing. It also outlines information about their confidence in their own…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Advanced Placement[R] (AP[R]) exam participation and performance on college grades for courses taken in the same subject area as students' AP Exam(s). Students' first-year college subject area grade point averages (SGPAs) were examined in nine subject areas: mathematics, computer science,…

With the focus of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) on struggling schools and reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) on the horizon, now is the time to have an honest conversation about what people know--and don't know--about school-level trends. To spur this conversation and to help state and local…

The most critical feature of a common-item nonequivalent groups equating design is that the average score difference between the new and old groups can be accurately decomposed into a group ability difference and a form difficulty difference. Two widely used observed-score linear equating methods, the Tucker and the Levine observed-score methods,…

This paper makes an in-depth comparison of the PISA (OECD) and TIMSS (IEA) mathematics assessments conducted in 2003. First, a comparison of survey methodologies is presented, followed by an examination of the mathematics frameworks in the two studies. The methodologies and the frameworks in the two studies form the basis for providing…