It is a healthy exercise to debate the merits of using effect-size benchmarks to interpret research findings. However, these debates obscure a more central insight that emerges from empirical distributions of effect-size estimates in the literature: Efforts to improve education often fail to move the needle. I find that 36% of effect sizes from…

The widespread adoption of research-supported treatments by mental health providers has facilitated empirical development of quality assurance (QA) methods. Research in this area has focused on QA systems aimed at assuring the integrity of research-supported treatment implementation, while examination of QA systems to assure appropriate…

The Early Childhood Educator Survey and the Early Childhood Administrator Survey allow users to collect consistent data on the use of child assessments and learning standards in early childhood learning settings. Each survey includes modules on educator/administrator background information, assessment use, and learning standards implementation.…

Among the five roles--leader, instructional partner, information specialist, teacher, and, program administrator--identified for the school librarian in "Empowering Learners: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs" (AASL, 2009), the role of teacher is critical for improving student achievement. The school librarian is uniquely positioned in…

Most assessment arguments are about measurement. When is it better to use direct versus indirect measures of student learning? Is one standardized test of critical thinking better than another? Is applying rubrics to student work better than using standardized tests? How valid are self-reported measures of learning? Although these arguments are…

This report is a follow-up to "Gaining Ground in the Middle Grades" (Williams, Kirst, Haertel, et al., 2010). That study specified a comprehensive set of actionable practices that differentiated higher academic achievement among 303 middle grades schools in California. In doing so, the study provided a compelling and coherent account of…

Reflections on what is and is not popular knowledge about education, including widespread misinformation about open education, testing, and nonschool influences on students. (IRT)

Desegregation research fails to show gains for Blacks in either school achievement or employment. For desegregation to work, a multimodal, multilingual, multicultural educational model must be designed free from culturally biased norms. (Author/AM)

The history of standardized testing is examined, and various problems with test content, testing processes, and statistical applications of test results are discussed. (MJB)

Literature on evaluating the communication skills of teachers is briefly reviewed in this paper. Topics under consideration include how different states evaluate communication, how communication should be evaluated, whether or not state assessments reflect current research on teacher assessment, and how useful is the attempt to assess…

Suggests that faculty suspects that assessment will only confirm that many students have problems with college level learning. Views assessment as part of the learning enterprise, a way of helping greater proportions of students succeed academically, and a source of information needed to meet diverse student abilities, backgrounds, and interests.…

The research and development of mental (standardized) testing and its relationship to educational practice is traced historically from its pre-World War I roots to its controversial national prominence in the 1970s. How standardized tests have been used in research and in schools is analyzed. (BS)

The state of Connecticut has introduced a fourth-grade mastery test that assesses thinking skills. The test was developed cooperatively by the state's Department of Education, a testing corporation, and several cognitive psychologists; several alternative models of thinking were synthesized to produce a theoretical foundation for the test. (MCG)

This appendix accompanies "Gaining Ground in the Middle Grades: Why Some Schools Do Better. A Large-Scale Study of Middle Grades Practices and Student Outcomes. Initial Research Report." This appendix focuses on the findings and domain comparisons of the study. This appendix contains the following: (1) Decision Rules; (2) Full Set of…

The purposes of this study are to document the success of the Achievement Goals Program (AGP) in raising student achievement in San Diego Unified School District's minority-isolated schools and to provide recommendations for curriculum development and teacher training based on that success. Reports on the results of the Comprehensive Tests of…