The "Effectiveness of Early Literacy Instruction: Summary of 20 Years of Research" study examined information about evidence-based practices that are essential for early childhood educators and policymakers as they support preschool children's language and literacy development. The study used a process modeled after the What Works…

This report summarizes Fall 2017 Texas Kindergarten Early Assessment (TX-KEA) results for Austin Independent School District (AISD) kindergarten students, examining those with or without prior AISD prekindergarten experience. Test domains summarized in the report include vocabulary, listening comprehension, blending, letter names, letter sounds,…

The primary purpose of the 2017-2018 NC Pre-Kindergarten (NC Pre-K) Evaluation was to examine the effectiveness of the NC Pre-K Program using a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design. The major issue addressed by this type of study is around the benefits of offering children access to enrollment in NC Pre-K. An RCT is considered the…

The purpose of the 2015-2016 NC Pre-Kindergarten (NC Pre-K) Evaluation study was to examine the long-term effects of participation in NC Pre-K at the end of kindergarten. Two groups of children were compared--those who attended NC Pre-K (treatment) and those who had not attended NC Pre-K (comparison). Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to…

Reading comprehension--the ability to understand the meaning of text--is a foundational ability that enables children to learn in school and throughout life. Children who struggle with reading comprehension in the third or fourth grade are at high risk for dropping out of school, with detrimental effects on their future employment, income, and…

This report is part of a long-term collaboration of the Quality Teaching for English Learners initiative at WestEd with the Fort Worth Independent School District. The focus of this report is on a historical cohort of ninth graders who were enrolled at the International Newcomer Academy in the 2009-2010 school year. This report follows this cohort…

Technology is playing an increasingly large role in children's reading, writing and daily lives. In the last year use of tablet computers by five to 15-year-olds has increased three-fold (14% to 42%) and 28% of three to four-year-olds use a tablet computer. However, little attention has been paid to the impact of new technologies on children's…

In fall 2015, Scholastic, in conjunction with YouGov, conducted a survey to explore family attitudes and behaviours in India around reading books for fun. The key findings of this research, which are presented in this report, are based on a sample of 1,752 parents and children, including 350 parents of children aged 0-5; 701 parents of children…

It is well-established that language skills are amongst the best predictors of educational success. Consistent with this, findings from a population-based longitudinal study of parents and children in the UK indicate that language development at the age of two years predicts children's performance on entering primary school. Moreover, children who…

The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) describes language proficiency in reading, writing, speaking, and listening on a 6-level scale. In this study, English-language experts from across Europe linked CEFR levels to scores on three tests: the TOEFL® iBT test, the TOEIC® assessment, and the TOEIC "Bridge"™ test.…

Following research on phonological awareness development, this study explores children's acquisition of blending skills using three types of stimuli: body-coda, onset-rime, and phonemes. The results demonstrated that kindergarten children consistently gained proficiency for blending body-coda stimuli prior to onset-rime stimuli and phonemes. The…

This article presents the results of a quasi-experimental study of whether there exists a causal relationship between spoken language and the initial learning of reading/writing. The subjects were two matched samples each of 24 preschool pupils (boys and girls), controlling for certain relevant external variables. It was found that there was no…

The ACT National Curriculum Survey is a one-of-a-kind nationwide survey of educational practices and expectations conducted by ACT every 3 to 5 years. ACT surveys thousands of middle school/junior high school, secondary, and postsecondary teachers in English/writing, reading (including English language arts and social studies teachers),…

Each spring the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) are administered to grades 5, 8, and 11 throughout New Mexico as part of the State Department of Education mandated assessment program. This report contains information regarding Albuquerque Public Schools' results on the 1982 CTBS. A new form of the CTBS was selected for testing fifth and…

This report discusses student achievement in the San Antonio Independent School District (Texas) as seen through the results of the Texas Assessment of Basic Skills (TABS) and the Metropolitan Achievement Test (MAT). Taken without benefit of statewide performance the TABS scores indicate significant and troublesome declines in basic skills. The…