This study reports achievement and growth from kindergarten to 4th grade for three groups of English Learners (ELs): (a) ever-ELs; (b) ELs consistently eligible for service; and (c) EL and Special Education dually-identified students. All three EL groups had lower test scores than never-ELs throughout K-4. In math, ELs grew more than never-ELs…

Speaking proceeds under the constraint of time. While speaking, speakers are under constant pressure to follow the message being received and to formulate rapid responses to their partners. In the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) Speaking Test, the communicative nature of the interview creates an ideal situation for applicants…

This paper uses data from the Head Start Impact Study (HSIS), a nationally representative multisite randomized trial, to quantify variation in effects of Head Start during 2002-2003 on children's cognitive and socio-emotional outcomes relative to the effects of other local alternatives, including parent care. We find that (1) treatment and control…

To help improve research-based knowledge of effective instruction for low-literate ESL (English as a second language) learners, the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance of ED's (U.S. Department of Education's) Institute of Education Sciences contracted with the American Institutes of Research (AIR) to conduct a Study of…

Character education has become one of the fastest growing reform movements in K-12 education today, partially in response to unacceptable levels of student misbehavior and inadequate endorsement of good character values (Williams 2000). Between 1993 and 2009, 36 states passed laws mandating or recommending some aspect of character education in…

This report summarizes an evaluation study investigating the effects of participation in the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) program on student achievement in mathematics and reading/language arts, for the cohort of students who participated during the 2013-2014 school year. The report is a supplement to the Office of Assessment,…

This study evaluated an approach to professional development for middle school science teachers by closely examining one grade 8 course that embodies that approach. Using a cluster-randomized experimental design, the study tested the effectiveness of the Making Sense of SCIENCE[TM] professional development course on force and motion (Daehler,…

The Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) was interested in evaluating components of a statewide pilot program to support instruction in World Languages (particularly Spanish and French). The first component was an online student assessment, the Standards-based Measurement of Proficiency (STAMP) to measure the learning outcomes. The DDOE also…

At the elementary grade level, former English language learner (ELL) students' TAKS passing rates in mathematics, reading/ELA, and writing significantly exceeded the TAKS passing rates of non-ELL students. At the secondary level, former ELL students' passing rates on TAKS mathematics, social studies, and science were significantly lower than the…

In spring 2010, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) began planning a pilot of an application for the Apple iPad, "HMH Fuse: Algebra 1," which was then in development. The application was to be piloted in four California school districts during the 2010-2011 school year. HMH contracted with Empirical Education Inc. to conduct a one-year…

Background: Symptoms of prosodic problems have been found in Swedish children with language impairment at word and phrase level and possibly also at discourse level. Aims: The aim was twofold. First, to characterize a group of children with prosodic problems compared with children with normal language development. Second, to investigate the…

This report summarizes the results of the Newark, New Jersey, Striving Readers program for project Years 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. This report updates one analysis (3 years); the remainder of the impacts and implementation findings are for Year 4. The Striving Readers Grant addresses the unmet needs of middle school students reading 2 or more years below…

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…

Purpose: A pilot study of the "Language, Literacy, & Vocabulary!" program was conducted by Learning Gauger, Inc., for National Geographic School Publishing, in spring 2006. The program evaluation examined the classroom adoption approaches used by participating teachers and the subsequent impact of the "Language, Literacy, &…

Two major evaluations of bilingual education differed significantly in evaluation design and results. The American Institute for Research (AIR) conducted the national impact study for bilingual education and gathered data from many programs. AIR based its study on comparisons of mathematics and language arts achievement of students in bilingual…