Children growing up in disadvantaged neighborhoods perform much worse in school compared to children growing up under more favorable circumstances. We examine a program ("Coaching for Teaching") targeted at ten lower secondary schools in Sweden's most disadvantaged city districts. The program's aim was to enhance student performance by…

The passing rate in the Nurse Licensure Examination (NLE) is considered a key indicator of the quality of the nursing program. While a plethora of studies has identified the factors affecting NLE success, no study has tried to explore the role of an institutional standardized competency examination on NLE. The purpose of this study was to…

English spelling has always been described by many language researchers and teachers as a daunting task especially for learners whose first language is not English. Accordingly, Arab ESL learners commit serious errors when they spell out English words. The primary objective of this paper is to determine the types as well as the causes of spelling…

The author gives an overview of typical learning outcomes in business education and assessment instruments that help measure and test these outcomes. Using data from a recently accredited program the author investigated the determinants of performance on assessment exams to help identify and evaluate differences between homegrown and standardized…

This research synthesis collected, compiled, and analyzed 29 academic research articles that were published in China in recent years. It addressed and explored the issues in Chinese undergraduate students' English writing and the possible reasons causing and/or explaining the issues. It was discovered that many Chinese undergraduate students have…

Early literacy interventions have demonstrated that pedagogically sound programmes can boost reading achievement for students who do not succeed in early literacy learning. However, there is less evidence as to what extent gains are maintained in subsequent years or the factors which may contribute to sustained progress. The research reported in…

Parental socioeconomic status is among the widely cited factors that has strong association with academic performance of students. Explanatory research design was employed to assess the effects of parents' socioeconomic status on the academic achievement of students in regional examination. A survey was conducted to collect data on regional…

Current professional development initiatives show a preference for whole school approaches. However, pedagogy related to English language learners (ELLs) is often not widely dispersed in New Zealand primary schools, impacting on teacher efficacy with these learners. This paper discusses findings from a qualitative study which aimed to identify…

Over recent years, the credibility of public examinations in England has increasingly come to the fore. Government agencies have invested time and money into researching public perceptions of the reliability and validity of examinations. Whilst such research overlaps into the conceptual domain of trust, trust in examinations remains an elusive…

Response to Intervention (RTI) is a popular if controversial initiative developed largely in the USA, but which is, as yet, little known in general education in Australia. However, this may change given the increased attention to accountability in recent times. The national NAPLAN and international PISA assessments are leading to pressure being…

In developed countries, increasing emphasis is given to lifelong learning and the importance of the role that schools play in preparing pupils to become independent learners equipped with study strategies for learning beyond compulsory education. In the UK although study skills programmes were popular in schools during the 1980s, interest receded…

Based on PISA 2009 data, this article studies the relationship between students' computer use and their achievement in reading, mathematics and science in 23 countries. After having categorised computer use into a set of different activities according to the skills they involve, we correlate students' PISA test-scores with an index capturing the…

This manuscript reports on data collected as part of a larger research study designed to investigate factors that facilitate the integration of children with hearing loss into mainstream environments. Aspects of communicative, academic, and social functioning for 43 adolescents and young adults were examined using questionnaires. In addition,…

The purpose of this paper is to identify school effects on student performance for tertiary entrance in Australia, taking into account student-level predictors using longitudinal data from the 2003 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study. It finds that aspects of schooling, such as positive attitudes to school and disciplinary…

Standardized testing for higher education has been much in the news in the US over the last few years. In the wake of the Spellings Commission, the clear intent of the Department of Education's (USDOE) position in negotiated rulemaking in 2007 was to mandate its use in accreditation. Standardized testing is also a central feature of the Voluntary…