One of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic was the rapid shift to replacing traditional, paper-based tests with their computer-based counterparts. In many cases, these new modes of delivering tests will remain in place for the foreseeable future. In South Africa, the National Benchmark Quantitative Literacy (QL) test was impelled to make this…

This study revises and enhances a guided inquiry activity designed to introduce undergraduate and high school students to the physiological concepts of exercise fatigue during a 400-meter dash. This activity has been employed since 2016 in entry-level human physiology courses at the University of Minnesota and across 30 high schools. Using…

This article investigates an artificial intelligence language model, ChatGPT, and its ability to complete graduate-level instructional design assignments. The approach subjected ChatGPT to a needs, task, and learner analysis for a 12th-grade media literacy module and benchmarked its performance by expert evaluation and measurements via grading…

In 2016, the GED® introduced college readiness benchmarks designed to identify testers who are academically prepared for credit-bearing college coursework. The benchmarks are promoted as awarding college credits or exempting "college-ready" GED® graduates from remedial coursework. I show descriptive evidence that those identified as…

The SAT has long been used to assess students' readiness for college and to create competitiveness in college admissions. However, it has become a topic of controversy as stakeholders and researchers question its necessity, value, and validity especially where it concerns equitable access to post-secondary opportunities for underrepresented…

Reading, writing, and mathematics are widely regarded as foundational academic skills upon which many other academic skills depend. Consequently, each receives a considerable allocation of resources for instruction, assessment, and intervention in K-12 education (Hooper, 2002). An additional indicator of the importance of these skills is the…

Over the years, the nation's large urban school districts have consistently learned from the progress of their peer districts across the country. Great City School districts that have embraced the challenge of educating America's urban children have recognized the value of benchmarking their performance and growth against the progress of others.…

State education departments find themselves pressured to reduce costs while improving student performance. To do so, state education departments must measure the performance of each school district in an objective, data-informed manner. We present a benchmarking methodology and illustrate its application in New York State school districts. We…

This study provides empirical benchmarks that quantify typical changes in students' reports of social and emotional skills in a large, diverse sample. Data come from six cohorts of students (N = 361,815; 6% Asian, 8% Black, 68% White, 75% Latinx, 50% Female) who responded to the CORE survey from 2015 to 2018 and help quantify typical…

Many school systems have developed climate rating surveys to gather school perception data; however, research suggests that there are few states where this data is both disaggregated by race and used by school counselors. This study explores school counselors' use of school racial climate data as a benchmark for developing and delivering…

The PreACT® suite of assessments (PreACT® 8/9, PreACT®, and PreACT® Secure™) can be used to monitor students' progress toward college and career readiness. Scores are classified into one of three readiness levels based on chances of meeting the ACT College Readiness Benchmark. This data byte presents the updated score ranges for each readiness…

This qualitative, multiple case study explored educators' perceptions and measurements of success and approaches utilized in maximizing learner potential at three different Minnesota alternative learning program sites. Sites included Greater Minnesota, suburban, and urban settings. Methods involved eight one-on-one participant interviews, one…

This report provides and overview of the Austin Independent School District's college readiness outcomes for seniors in the 2020 and 2021 graduation cohorts.

Institutions of higher education face a great deal of pressure to be accessible, inclusive, and diverse, but these goals should not come at the expense of maintaining high standards. Universal and vigilantly enforced standards exist not only to safeguard students' best interests, but are crucial to the academic integrity and core educational…

Do quasi-experimental (QE) studies conducted with baseline covariates that are typically available in the longitudinal administrative state databases yield unbiased effect estimates? This paper conducts a within-study comparison (WSC) study that compares experimental impacts of early college high school (ECHS) attendance with QE impacts drawn from…