Poor literacy achievement among English learners has contributed significantly to their high dropout rates, poor job prospects, and high poverty rates. The National Literacy Panel on Language Minority Children and Youth has suggested that English learners benefit from the same direct, systematic instruction in the five essential components of…

Eighth-grade scores for 140 females and 115 males on three cognitive tests and the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitudes Scales were used to predict mathematics grades 1-3 years later. In addition to mathematics achievement, significant relationships were confirmed for spatial visualization and confidence in learning mathematics. (Author/GDC)

The incremental effectiveness over high school grade point average alone of the American College Testing Program, the Scholastic Aptitude Test, and the California Achievement Tests in predicting college freshmen grade point average was compared. The incremental predictive efficiency was nearly the same for each, resulting in an 18.47 percent…

Comparison of verbal Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and California Achievement Test (CAT) scores of high school students who had (N=1,333) or had not (N=445) taken at least one year of foreign language study supported the conclusion that length of foreign language study was positively related to high SAT verbal scores. (CB)

This study examined characteristics of multiple-choice reading comprehension tasks suspected of influencing their difficulty, through administration of the California Achievement Tests to 158 deaf college students. Problem components evaluated included manifest content, psychologically salient features, and processing demands. Variation in item…

A study developed a multiple regression prediction equation for each of six selected achievement variables in a popular standardized test of achievement. Subjects, 42 fourth-grade pupils randomly selected across several classes in a large elementary school in a north Florida city, were administered several standardized tests to determine predictor…

Arguments which suggest that improved prediction of multiple criteria can be achieved employing pattern scoring of responses, as opposed to conventional methods, are examined. Models for improving prediction of single and multiple criteria were examined. The findings are: (1) simple linear combinations of predictor variables perform as well…

As part of a larger study, this paper examines the factors that determine promotion decisions at the end of first grade. Determinants of first grade failure are of particular interest because at this stage there are alternatives to failure. (Author/RWB)

The study compared two adult education standards used to determine Louisiana student eligibility for taking the General Educational Development (GED) test. Of the initial 590 students, 516 remained as study participants. The traditional standard, Standard 1, required the student to earn 13.0 on the California Achievement Test (CAT) with no area…

This study investigated the degree to which it was possible to identify students who were likely to fail the Ohio Ninth Grade Proficiency Test (ONGPT) from data contained in their academic records. The criterion measure was student scores on the Trial Test of the ONGPT, a measure selected because it provided scores that could be correlated, as…

Locus of control is a construct that reflects an individual's perception of control over his or her own destiny. The thesis is that people adopt either an internal or an external orientation. Internally oriented persons consider success the result of ability and effort. Externally oriented individuals attribute success to luck, fate, or powerful…

The relationship between type of reading instruction (whole language or basal) and reading comprehension as measured by the California Achievement Test (CAT) was investigated. Nineteen third- and fourth-grade teachers from school 5 districts in North Carolina took part in the project with 215 students in the basal group and 200 students in the…

Various models of school effects on student achievement were applied in a study of reading and mathematics achievement in the 94 schools of the Oklahoma City Public Schools. The Leadership/Climate Inventory, completed by 1294 teachers, rated school principals in the areas of expectations, instructional leadership, forceful or dynamic style,…

The effectiveness of an instructional improvement project in the Greeley-Evans Schools, Colorado, was studied. Teachers were provided inservice education in a class called the Essentials of Instruction. Recognizing that receiving training was not the same as being an implementer of the innovation, the Levels of Use instrument identified teachers…

This descriptive study investigates the variability in the curriculum pacing decisions of classroom teachers. The effects on the reading achievement and performance gains of first and second grade students in a compensatory education program program are examined. Data were collected from: (1) the Metropolitan Readiness Test results used to select…