Nationwide, a growing percentage of kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) teachers report regularly using standards-aligned English language arts and math curriculum materials. Despite this uptick in the regular usage of standards-aligned materials across the United States, not all teachers use these materials for the majority of their…

Grade 3-5 students in southeastern Arkansas are reading below grade level despite the efforts of educators. The study explored educator perceptions of the Reading Initiative for Student Excellence (R.I.S.E.) professional development, in which educators learn about Science of Reading (SOR) instructional strategies and how to implement them in the…

We used multilevel mixed modeling to test the extent to which students' music achievement scores were related to their reading and math achievement scores. Of the four levels examined (individual students, classrooms, schools, and districts), only individuals and districts accounted for a significant portion of the total variance in achievement…

Background: Students of color are disproportionately placed in special education throughout the United States. Prior research suggests that special education is used too often in high-poverty schools partly due to limited resources available to support struggling students (Skiba et al., 2006). More recent studies, however, suggest that…

In this paper, we use NWEA MAP test data to examine variation in students' achievement and growth during the pandemic across multiple dimensions. Consistent with prior evidence, we find that students' test scores in fall 2021, on average, were substantially below historic averages. Moreover, the average scores of students of color, students…

There is growing attention to personalizing education to provide students with more flexibility in their education experiences and more time to master academic content (Pane, Steiner, Baird, & Hamilton, 2015). To personalize education, Legacy High School in Bismarck Public Schools, North Dakota, has implemented a schedule that allows students…

There is growing attention to personalizing education to provide students with more flexibility in their education experiences and more time to master academic content. To personalize education, Legacy High School in Bismarck Public Schools, North Dakota, has implemented a schedule that allows students some choice in how they spend a portion of…

These are the appendixes for the report, "How Legacy High School Students Use Their Flexible Time." The study examined whether students with different demographic characteristics and academic achievement levels use their flex-time differently. The study found that, on average over the school year, students had approximately 80 minutes of…

A comparison of Chicago public school students' standardized test scores in 2009-2014 with those of public students across the U.S. reveals two striking patterns. First, Chicago students' scores improved dramatically more, on average, between third and eighth grade than those of the average student in the U.S. This is true for students of all…

This report looks at student growth in Arkansas school districts disaggregated by district poverty and by the district's value-added performance relative to other districts. We estimated district value-added performance statistics by subject and grade level (8 and 11-12) for longitudinal student cohorts, using statistical models that adjusted for…

This report examines the relationship between socioeconomic status, as defined by a free-and-reduced lunch proxy variable, and student growth percentiles by elementary, middle, and high school grade levels for math, reading, and writing. Comparisons were made between median growth percentiles for each educational level by free and reduced lunch…

Many English Language Learners (ELLs) migrate to the United States at older ages and administrators must choose a grade in which to place these new entrants as soon as they register for school. In this study, I estimate the effect of grade placement on the short-term academic performance of ELLs who enroll in the Miami-Dade County Public School…

Educators and policymakers are paying increased attention to the academic outcomes of students in the middle grades (i.e., Grades 6-8). One reform proposed to improve outcomes for these students is to replace middle schools (with Grade 6-8, 7-8, or 7-9 configurations) with K-8 schools. This longitudinal study evaluated the effects of continuously…

For over thirty years, research has been conducted on the relative benefits of integrating the sixth through eighth grades within the structure of the K-8 elementary school or of establishing a freestanding middle school structure. While the available research clearly supports the positive effects of the K-8 structure on academic achievement in…

Using an equity perspective, this article compares the education systems of the United States and the Netherlands. Existing data examining student demographics, the organizational structures, curricula, funding, and student outcomes are examined. The Netherlands appears to be getting a "bigger bang for their buck." We make the case that…