Summer learning loss (SLL) is a familiar and much-studied phenomenon, yet new concerns that measurement artifacts may have distorted canonical SLL findings create a need to revisit basic research on SLL. Though race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status only account for about 4% of the variance in SLL, nearly all prior work focuses on these factors.…

The Every Student Succeeds Act requires states to identify schools with low-performing student subgroups for Targeted Support and Improvement or Additional Targeted Support and Improvement. Random differences between students' true abilities and their test scores, also called measurement error, reduce the statistical reliability of the performance…

This Snapshot highlights key findings from a study that used Bayesian stabilization to improve the reliability (long-term stability) of subgroup proficiency measures that the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) uses to identify schools for Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) or Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (ATSI). The…

The "Stabilizing Subgroup Proficiency Results to Improve the Identification of Low-Performing Schools" study used Bayesian stabilization to improve the reliability (long-term stability) of subgroup proficiency measures that the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) uses to identify schools for Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI)…

This paper provides the first population-based evidence on how much standardized test scores vary among public school districts within each state and how segregation explains that variation. Using estimates based on roughly 300 million test score records in math and English Language Arts (ELA) for Grades 3 through 8 from every U.S. public school…

For over two decades, there have been calls to assess the relationship of the features of teacher preparation programs to teacher effectiveness, to provide guidance for program improvement. At the middle grades level, theory suggests that coursework in educational psychology is particularly important for teacher effectiveness. Using 4 years of…

Background: The multiple goal perspective posits that certain combinations of achievement goals are more favourable than others in terms of educational outcomes. Aims: This study aimed to examine longitudinally whether students' achievement goal profiles and transitions between profiles are associated with developments in self-reported and…

High-potential students from low-income families are at an academic disadvantage compared with their more affluent peers. To address this issue, researchers have suggested novel approaches to mitigate gaps in student performance, including out-of-school enrichment programs. Longitudinal mixed effects modeling was used to analyze the growth of…

This paper investigates the differences in academic achievement trajectories from elementary through middle school among English Learner students in four different instructional programs: English Immersion, Transitional Bilingual, Developmental Bilingual, and Dual Immersion programs. Comparing students with the same parental preferences but who…

Background: Chronotype refers to individuals' preference for morning or evening activities. Its two dimensions (morningness and eveningness) are related to a number of academic outcomes. Aims: The main goal of the study was to investigate the incremental validity of chronotype as a predictor of academic achievement after controlling for a number…

Legislative amendments contained in the most recent reauthorization of IDEA and NCLB have mandated that all students, including those with special needs, be taught by an appropriately certified teacher. Specifically, both of these laws require that teachers of special education students in core academic classes must meet state special education…