The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which the measures that make up each of the three separate accountability indices of school performance in South Carolina could be used to create an overall, reliable index of school performance. Data from public elementary, middle, and high schools in 2012/13 were used in confirmatory factor…

Performance-based scholarships have two main goals: (1) to give students more money for college; and (2) to provide incentives for academic progress. MDRC launched the Performance-Based Scholarship (PBS) Demonstration in 2008 to evaluate the effectiveness of these scholarships in a diverse set of states, institutions, and low-income student…

The adoption of personalized learning approaches has increased significantly in recent years. This report examines achievement in 62 public charter and district schools that are pursuing a variety of personalized learning practices, and examines implementation details in 32 of those schools. Researchers obtained achievement data for personalized…

The 2013-2014 North Carolina Pre-Kindergarten (NC Pre-K) Evaluation study was designed to examine the longitudinal outcomes through kindergarten for children who attended the Pre-K program, along with comparisons to previous cohorts of program attendees. A sample of 561 children was included in the study, with data gathered at the beginning and…

In higher education in the state of Arkansas, two courses are considered to be gateway courses to obtaining a college degree--College Algebra and English Composition I. While students may obtain Certificates of Proficiency and Technical Certificates without taking these courses, few, if any, can earn an Associate's or Bachelor's degree without…

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…

One out of every seven students in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is designated as an English language learner (ELL), and 30 percent of students in the entire district have been designated as ELLs at some point while enrolled in CPS. Many of the policies, programs, and resources targeting the needs of ELL students focus on students in elementary…

The Council of the Great City Schools has prepared this ninth edition of Beating the Odds to give the nation an in-depth look at how big city schools are performing on the academic goals and standards set by the states. This analysis examines student achievement in mathematics and reading from spring 2006 through spring 2009. It also measures…

In recent years, interest has spiked in data-driven decision making in education--that is, using various types of student data to inform decisions in schools and classrooms. In October 2008, the Council of the Great City Schools and American Institutes for Research (AIR) launched a project funded by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that focused…

This report summarizes the thirteenth survey of states by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) at the University of Minnesota. Results are presented for 49 states and 6 of the 11 unique states. The purpose of this report is to provide a snapshot of the new initiatives, trends, accomplishments, and emerging issues during this…

Most students arrive at college expecting to succeed and believing that they are motivated to do so. Too often, though, there is an evident difference between being motivated and being prepared to succeed. Still, community college students often come to recognize one factor that plays a pivotal role in their success: connections. Entering students…

In 2010, approximately 14 percent of all students in the nation were enrolled in the organization's 65 urban school districts out of approximately 15,000 school districts nationwide. In addition, 21 percent of the nation's students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, 26 percent of English language learner (ELL) students and 24 percent of the…

Unless the United States moves with urgency, today's young people will be the first generation in American history to be less educated than their predecessors. Consider this a sobering wake-up call--and an urgent appeal for action now. In this report, one will get an unprecedented look behind the ivy-covered walls of America's public colleges and…

This report offers an examination of the impact of Nebraska Reading First on comprehension across the first three years of implementation in the state. Grade level performance is defined as performance at or above the 40th percentile using grade level standards. Within each grade level section reading comprehension achievement is shown for all…

Working with the entire junior class of a suburban, middle-class high school, researchers investigated the effects of family stability on student performance, using the Iowa Test of Educational Development as an achievement measure. A statistical test was applied to two groups of students, representing stability or lack of stability in the family…