In this quasi-experimental study, we examined STEMscopes program impacts on science achievement in Longhorn ISD. The report specifically analyzed STEMscopes impacts on STAAR and MAP Growth scores. The present study used a school-level quasi-experimental design, where 8 STEMscopes schools were selected for inclusion and 8 comparison schools (using…

Educators, economists, and sociologists have long discussed how best to measure the value of education in society. Since the Coleman Report was published in 1966, indicating that America's students were falling behind, there has been increased scrutiny on ensuring teachers are effective in the classroom and that students are learning and growing…

Test-based accountability policy in the US has resulted in increased availability and use of assessment systems to support instructional decision making. Though limited, literature to date suggests an important role for these systems as tools, mediating teacher knowledge and action. We examine system log data from NWEA's MAP assessment to better…

Underachievement in education and the exploration of its factors have been in constant interest in educational research for years. According to McFarland et al., 2017) previously conducted research has found a relationship between family risk factors and negative educational outcomes which include low academic achievement, student retention, and…

These are the appendixes for the report, "Trends and Gaps in Reading Achievement across Kindergarten and Grade 1 in Two Illinois School Districts." This study examined reading achievement data for kindergarten and grade 1 students in two districts in Illinois: District U-46 (Elgin Area Schools) and District 186 (Springfield Public…

This study evaluated the effectiveness of faithful use of Imagine Math, a computer adaptive math intervention for elementary students in grades three through five. To achieve this objective, the researcher compared the math achievement growth as measured by the NWEA MAP math assessments from fall 2021 to spring 2022 between the treatment group and…

The purpose of this quasi-experimental, quantitative study was to examine the effects of implementing a non-evaluative teacher goal setting process to determine if there was an impact on student achievement as measured by MAP growth scores and if there was an effect on teacher job satisfaction. For this study, teacher job satisfaction was measured…

School districts choose programs based on limited data, word of mouth, or cost-effectiveness. STEM-based schools often choose project-based learning (PBL) programs to deliver curricula through limited research and word of mouth effectiveness. This study evaluated one PBL program implementation in the context of a suburban Texas middle school by…

This study employs critical content analysis to investigate school districts' identification process of gifted Emergent Bilinguals (EBLs) in North Texas. Despite the diverse population and significant presence of EBLs in Texas, this group is notably underrepresented in gifted programs. In order to uncover the inequities for gifted EBLs, this study…

Identifying effective means of ameliorating achievement gaps and addressing literacy deficits is essential. Computer-assisted instruction (CAI) is one avenue for providing this effective instruction to the students that can most benefit from it. In the current study, kindergarten students in a public school district in Illinois received…

The current study aimed to explore the COVID-19 impact on the reading achievement growth of Grade 3-5 students in a large urban school district in the U.S. and whether the impact differed by students' demographic characteristics and instructional modality. Specifically, using administrative data from the school district, we investigated to what…

When superintendent Rudy Hernandez first arrived at Cicero School District 99, he knew he had challenges to address across the district. With a near-90 percent poverty level and a student population made up of 50 percent English language learners, he knew he needed to work with teachers to build a data-driven support system to affect change.…

This study examined the impact of Classworks® Individualized Learning math instruction on second-grade students performing below the 25th percentile in math. The research, conducted during the 2021-2022 school year, involved 1,367 students from 45 schools across seven districts. A quasi-experimental design compared 941 students who had any use of…

Linking score scales across different tests is considered speculative and fraught, even at the aggregate level. We introduce and illustrate validation methods for aggregate linkages, using the challenge of linking U.S. school district average test scores across states as a motivating example. We show that aggregate linkages can be validated both…

When Superintendent Curtis Craig, Ed.S., came to the Rensselaer Central Schools Corporation in 2015, he discovered an assessment problem common to many districts. The assessment results--Renaissance STAR and Acuity at the time--were not well aligned to the new, more rigorous standards the district and state had recently adopted. In addition, some…