The authors examined the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) on academic self-concept (ASC) using different indicators of academic ability (i.e., achievement test, cognitive ability test, grades corrected for grading-on-a-curve effects, uncorrected grades). They investigated under what circumstances grades are suitable indicators of academic…

Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest partnered with the Arkansas Department of Education to examine Arkansas's middle school and high school indicators of postsecondary readiness and success, building on an earlier study of these indicators (Hester et al., 2021). Academic indicators include attaining proficiency on state academic…

Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest partnered with the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) to examine Arkansas's middle and high school indicators of postsecondary readiness and success, building on an earlier study of these indicators (Hester et al., 2021). Academic indicators include attaining proficiency on state achievement tests,…

This brief examined the patterns of reading achievement using statewide data from all students (Grades 3-10) in multiple years to examine gaps based on student, school, and district characteristics. Results indicate reading achievement varied most between students within schools and that students' prior achievement was the strongest predictor of…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of dropout predictors across time. Two state-level high school graduation panels were selected to begin with the seventh and ninth grades but end at the same time. The first panel (seventh grade) contained 29,554 students and used sixth grade predictors. The second panel (ninth grade)…

The stakes of large-scale testing programs have grown considerably in the past decade with the enactment of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Race To The Top (RTTT) legislations. A significant component of NCLB has been required reporting of annual yearly progress (AYP) of student subgroups disaggregated by sex, special education status, English…

Alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards are designed to measure the academic achievement of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. Because this population has not previously been included in large-scale testing programs, these assessments present unique measurement challenges. Probably the most…

The short-term emphasis engendered by No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has focused research predominantly on unraveling the complexities and uncertainties in assessing short-term results, rather than developing methods and assessing results over the longer term. In this paper we focus on estimating long-term gains and address questions important to…

Preparation for college and careers begins when students are young, yet, it can be difficult for middle grade educators to know how best to prepare these students for future success. Middle grade practitioners need to know what to pay attention to and who needs additional support. Without knowing how to identify students who are on-track for high…

English language learner (ELL) mathematics students at a California middle school did not meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) toward state standards in 2010. The purpose of this project study was to examine 6th and 7th grade mathematics teachers' perceptions regarding differentiated instruction for ELL students' specific academic needs and to…

This article presents results from an empirical study of how student engagement is visible during introductory algebra. Previously, the notion of engagement in mathematics has been studied from students' and researchers' perspectives. This study is instead focused on teachers' perspectives on student engagement. Eight teachers in grade 6-7 have…

This study examined oral reading fluency (ORF) of bilingual and monolingual students. The author selected a sample of 510 (258 males and 252 females) native Arabic-speaking sixth-graders (62 bilinguals and 448 monolinguals) in Egypt. The purposes were; (a) to examine oral reading rate, oral reading accuracy, prosody, and oral reading comprehension…

This exploratory study sought to determine if a popular school-based drug prevention program might be effective in schools that are making adequate yearly progress (AYP). Thirty-four schools with grades 6 through 8 in 11 states were randomly assigned either to receive Project ALERT (n = 17) or to a control group (n = 17); of these, 10 intervention…

The United States Department of Education (USED) granted 11 states waivers (eight full waivers and three conditional waivers) to provide what the USED termed "flexibility" from meeting some of the requirements in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Much of the flexibility relieves schools from the Adequate Yearly Progress mandate that requires…

This document presents the percentage of Texas students achieving the National Center for Educational Achievement's (NCEA) College and Career Readiness Targets and ACT's College Readiness Benchmarks. The key to all students graduating college and career ready is to be able to identify whether or not students, starting in elementary school, are on…