All students should have opportunities to develop their ability to reason mathematically. Gersten and Chard (1999) support this stance with respect to students with learning disabilities: "Even if students are not automatic with basic facts, they still should be engaged in activities that promote the development of number sense and…

A cluster analysis data classification technique was used on assessment scores from 157 undergraduate nursing students who passed 2 successive compulsory courses in human anatomy and physiology. Student scores in five summative assessment tasks, taken in each of the courses, were used as inputs for a cluster analysis procedure. We aimed to group…

The Communities In Schools (CIS) Model of Integrated Student Supports aims to reduce dropout rates by providing students with integrated and tiered support services based on their levels of need. The model includes preventive services that are available to all students (Level 1 services) as well as intensive, targeted, and sustained services…

In the first decade of the 21st century, the New York City (NYC) Department of Education implemented a set of large-scale and much debated high school reforms, which included closing large, low-performing schools, opening new small schools, and extending high school choice to students throughout the district. The school closure process was the…

Two decades after I left teaching primary school for a university career, I observed students and teachers in a mainstream primary school in Hong Kong. There were three main student communities within the school. Those who were labeled extremely low achievers were taught in a small class of not more than 12; these students were taught a curriculum…

The Colorado Basic Literacy Law, enacted in 1996, requires that school districts report the number and percentage of students who are reading at or above grade level in grade 3, are on individualized literacy plans, or improve their reading achievement by two or more grade levels in a single year. The law requires the use of multiple indicators or…

Reviews international academic achievement differences and argues that poor U.S. performance in math reflects curricular focus and teaching deficiencies, not inadequate sampling techniques. Reveals that U.S. student achievement has been weak for decades, suggesting fundamental school reform is warranted. (GR)

Over the last 20 years, many districts and schools have begun to explore year-round education or a modified calendar in response to student under-achievement in low performing schools. Here, the authors detail their two-year study of Title I, year-round, or modified calendar schools that switched from a traditional to a modified schedule in order…

Recently, increasing attention has become focused on the inadequacy of the American high school experience for adequately preparing individuals for the jobs of the future as well as for life more generally. This inadequate preparation is explored primarily through the findings from the twelfth grade portion of the Third International Mathematics…

Shifting focus from typical data and information about the status of educational achievement in the United States and about gaps in achievement among the nation's students, this report undertakes investigation of less-frequently-asked questions. As required by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), educators are continuously monitoring whether more…

The Ypsilanti Perry Preschool Project was designed to help economically disadvantaged children at high academic risk to cope more effectively with school and adult life in the mainstream of society. From 1962 through 1967, 123 children participated in the project. The basic experiment contrasted children who attended preschool with children who…

Here, author William A. Sampson examines the role of the family in the school preparation process among poor Blacks and Latinos. It is based upon the data collected during intense long-term observations of 21 disadvantaged minority students and families in their homes within the same community. The data suggests that the differences in…

The Ypsilanti Curriculum Demonstration Project (CDP) was designed to address the question of whether some approaches to compensatory preschool education for economically disadvantaged children were more effective than others under controlled experimental conditions. The CDP examined the effects of three preschool curriculum models on children's…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Education Programs Receive Little Funding: Striving Readers One of Only a Handful of Programs to Receive Small…