Houston's experience with the Educational Value-Added Assessment System (R) (EVAAS) raises questions that other districts should consider before buying the software and using it for high-stakes decisions. Researchers found that teachers in Houston, all of whom were under the EVAAS gun, but who taught relatively more racial minority students,…

The MIND Research Institute contracted with the Evaluation Research Program at WestEd to conduct an independent assessment of mathematics outcomes in elementary school grades across California that were provided with the ST Math program. Spatial-Temporal (ST) Math is a game-based instructional software designed to boost K-5 and secondary-level…

My Virtual Reading Coach (MVRC) is an online program for students who have been identified as struggling readers. It is used as an intervention within the Response to Intervention (RtI) framework, as well as for students with disabilities. The software addresses reading sub-skills (i.e., comprehension, fluency, phonemic awareness, phonics, and…

"Effectiveness of Reading and Mathematics Software Products: Findings for Two Student Cohorts" examined the effects of ten reading and mathematics software products on student achievement. The study analyzed data on more than 11,000 students in 400 classrooms and was conducted in 23 primarily urban, low-income school districts. The…

We conducted an evaluation study of the Middle School Algebra Readiness Initiative, a middle school mathematics intervention that was implemented in two West Virginia school districts during the 2011-2012 school year. In participating middle schools, the Carnegie Learning MATHia® software intervention and accompanying classroom curriculum were…

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…

A long-awaited federal study of reading and math software found no significant differences in standardized-test scores between students who used the technology in their classrooms and those who used other methods. The study compared classes overseen by teachers who used the technology-based products with those of other teachers who used different…

Many students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing are eligible for a signing accommodation for state and other standardized tests. The signing accommodation, however, presents several challenges for testing programs that attempt to administer tests under standardized conditions. One potential solution for many of these challenges is the use of…

Some of the issues regarding the estimation of reliability for performance assessments are explored, and a methodology is suggested for determination of reliability. In performance assessment, the magnitude of the reliability coefficient may be less than that obtained for a standardized test, since part of the potential use of performance…

A study demonstrated the positive impact of school ownership of the Accelerated Reader (AR) technology-based literacy program on attendance and standardized test scores at a representative sample of 2,500 elementary, middle, and high schools. These schools were compared with approximately 3,500 schools of similar geographic and demographic…

Discusses the use of courseware designed to prepare high school students for the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). Provides a review of six software packages specifically designed for this purpose. Discusses, as an alternative, a non-computer plan for SAT preparation. (TW)

A discussion of the use of standardized tests in second language assessment focuses on the usefulness of program-based language tests aligned with specific curricula and capable of motivating students to participate in classroom activities that are a preparation both for the test and for life after the test. The purpose of this paper is to show…