Students with different abilities perform lower on state standardized tests, such as the STAAR test (Texas Education Agency, n.d.). The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to study the underlying causes that contributed to the low performance of students with different abilities on STAAR standardized tests and strategies the…

After 25 years with small to moderate gains in performance in mathematics, scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) main assessment declined between 2013 and 2015 in Grades 4 and 8. Previous research has suggested the decline may be linked to the implementation of the "Common Core" state standards. In this…

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a seismic and on-going disruption to K-12 schooling. Using test scores from 5.4 million U.S. students in grades 3-8, we tracked changes in math and reading achievement across the first two years of the pandemic. Average fall 2021 math test scores in grades 3-8 were 0.20-27 standard deviations (SDs) lower relative to…

Background: COVID-19-disrupted schools, including shifts to virtual learning which may have impacted academic progress. This study assessed characteristics associated with changes in academic grades (before and during the pandemic) for different learning modalities for US students ages 13-19. Methods: Students (N = 2152) completed a web survey on…

Georgia adopted science standards encouraging teachers to use inquiry-based instruction in science instruction in 2016 to improve science exam scores. The problem was a lack of improvement in science exam scores in middle school and high school students in a small rural school district in South Georgia since inquiry-based standards have been put…

In October 2023, the California Department of Education released test scores for all students in Grades 3-8 and 11 for the 2022-23 school year. These results represent an opportunity to analyze whether and to what extent student learning has rebounded after the dramatic declines in scores resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and related school…

In Florida, civic illiteracy among middle and high school students is a pressing concern despite state initiatives to increase civic competence (Florida House of Representatives, 2019; FLDOE, 2023b; Florida Department of State, 2023). Recent scores on state civics and social studies standardized assessments reveal a disheartening fact--an average…

Declines in the scores of Australian 15-year-old students from the Programme for International Student Assessment are a matter of policy interest. Some of the declines may have resulted from shifts in the age-grade distributions of students in the Programme for International Student Assessment samples. We use multiple regression methods to model…

This study examined the science self-efficacy beliefs of students at the transition from elementary school (Grade 6) to middle school (Grade 7) and the transition from middle school (Grade 8) to high school (Grade 9). The purpose was to determine whether students' perceived competence is impacted at these important school transitions and if the…

Longitudinal change in the average Z scores for four groups of pupils sorted by quartiles was examined for its stability over three years. The data, collected from 1998 to 2009, was obtained from nine cohorts of Japanese junior high school pupils totaling 1,962 subjects. It showed illusionary declines among the mid-range pupils but improvements…

This study of 1,601 students in the middle years of schooling (Grades 5-8, each student measured twice, 1 year apart) from 200 classrooms in 44 schools sought to identify factors explaining gains and declines in mathematics engagement at key transition points. In multilevel regression modeling, findings showed that compared with Grade 6 students…

NAEP Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) results in mathematics and reading are based on representative samples of 1,100 to 2,300 public school students at grade 4 and 900 to 2,100 public school students at grade 8 in each participating urban district in 2013. Twenty-one urban districts participated in the 2013 assessments. The assessments…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), in partnership with the National Assessment Governing Board and the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS), created the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) in 2002 to support the improvement of student achievement in the nation's large urban districts. The TUDA focuses attention on urban…