This study compared students' performance on Istation, a computer-based progress-monitoring tool, and easyCBM, a paper-pencil progress-monitoring tool. Participants included 106 students in Grades K-6 from a rural school in New Mexico. Teachers in these grade levels administered both assessments three times during the school year. Results…

This study investigates second language acquisition of learners enrolled in a dual language/two-way bilingual immersion program. Two groups of third-grade students participated in this study. The first group was composed of Spanish-dominant participants learning English, and the second group was composed of English-dominant students learning…

In Senate Bill (SB) 2 (83rd Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 2013), the Texas Legislature added Texas Education Code (TEC) § 12.1013 (a)-(d). This legislation required that charter school performance to be compared to comparable traditional public schools. This report responds to that mandate, using Texas' P-20/Workforce Repository data for the…

Across the country, collaborative efforts are bringing together a variety of organizations that work with school-age children and youth, including out-of-school time programs and nonprofit service agencies, to improve educational outcomes in their communities. However, linking activities to outcomes can be a particular problem for nonprofit…

This study compared a value-added approach to school accountability to the currently used metrics of accountability in California of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and Academic Performance Index (API). Five-year student panel data (N?=?53,733) from 29 elementary schools in a large California school district were used to address the research…

As the ACT has become part of North Carolina's mandatory testing program, SAT participation in Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) and North Carolina has declined in recent years. However, SAT performance in WCPSS remains high compared to state and national averages. In 2012-13, students in WCPSS continued to score 50-60 points higher on the…

The purpose of this study was to: examine differences in students' perceptions of their noncognitive skills and school environments by race/ethnicity, and explore whether students' perceptions of their noncognitive skills and school environments were related to three outcomes that have been identified in the research as mattering most for a…

Since its inception more than four decades ago, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has served as a key indicator of what the nation's students know and can do in academic subjects. NAEP assessments provide a mechanism for putting the achievements of students in all states on a common scale; the assessments also serve as…

We investigate the relations between gender, parental education, ability, and educational achievement in Britain, focusing on the way in which gender and parental education interact with ability to contribute to a pupil's obtaining secondary school qualifications. This allows us to provide evidence relevant to claims concerning the effects of…

In conjunction with the Denver Plan instituted in 2005, Denver Public Schools (DPS) has embarked upon a consistent strategy of opening new schools in an effort to improve overall academic performance. DPS has pursued this strategy under several different paths: an annual request for proposals from charter school applicants; allowing current…

Alternatives to vertical scales are compared for measuring longitudinal academic growth and for producing school-level growth measures. The alternatives examined were empirical cross-grade regression, ordinary least squares and logistic regression, and multilevel models. The student data used for the comparisons were Arabic Grades 4 to 10 in…

Three main purposes provided the foundation for this study. The first purpose was to investigate academic achievement through analyses of data obtained through formal and informal assessments among kindergarten through eighth grade students who participated in a Head Start program, center-based care program, or home-based care prior to school…

This study assessed the effects of a modified version of Check & Connect, a comprehensive student engagement intervention, on the attendance, behavior, and academic performance of secondary African American females with violent and aggressive behavior problems. In addition, the Student Engagement Instrument (SEI) was used to assess cognitive…