Students' socioeconomic status (SES) is central to much research and policy deliberation on educational inequalities. However, the SES model is under severe stress for several reasons. SES is an ill-defined concept, unlike parental education or family income. SES measures are frequently based on proxy reports from students; these are generally…

This study analyzed data on students in three Ohio school districts who had completed grades 8 and 9 to determine which data elements were the most accurate indicators of students' failure to graduate from high school on time. The most accurate indicators varied by district and grade level, which underscores the importance of having school systems…

A fundamental skill for growth and improvement in modern society is the ability to read--a skill still denied to many millions of children across the globe. A number of factors share the responsibility for this dilemma. In developing countries, most potential readers live under conditions where instruction is non-optimal or even unavailable…

Reducing the economic and social burden associated with poor academic achievement represents an urgent concern in South Africa. Increasingly research suggests that child characteristics in kindergarten play an important role in charting courses towards academic success and educational attainment by early adulthood. Although math and reading skills…

Recent years have seen increased attention to the high school-college transition. Students are enrolling in college in record numbers, yet they are also taking increasing numbers of remedial courses. How to measure and report on academic readiness for college is an important policy issue receiving attention from the National Assessment Governing…

The Brief Academic Competence Evaluation Screening System (BACESS) is a broadband universal screening instrument with three increasingly stringent phases for the identification of children at risk for academic and related behavior difficulties. The development of the BACESS involved two samples of students: K-5 students (n = 827) from the…

In this article, the author describes the growth and acceptance of achievement tests, such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), over the past century, advocating that many SAT claims of equity, uniformity, technical reliability, and prediction, over traditional measures of academic achievement have been found to be illusory. Summarizing a series…

The relationships typically existing between scores on reading tests and college grades are described. The four purposes are to: present some of the typical relationships between reading ability and college success; report upon some of the evidence supporting other possible predictors of college success; describe some of the problems associated…

This report describes how results from the Austin Independent School District (AISD) Student Climate Survey are related to academic achievement in AISD.

We propose a multidimensional model that can be used to formulate a research agenda that aims to explore how innovations in teaching and instruction influence the science of learning within educational contexts. This model depicts the complexity of relationships between variables within: classrooms, the total school program, and inside and outside…

This descriptive study investigates the variability in the curriculum pacing decisions of classroom teachers. The effects on the reading achievement and performance gains of first and second grade students in a compensatory education program program are examined. Data were collected from: (1) the Metropolitan Readiness Test results used to select…