This report describes the main field test of Minicourse 18: Teaching Reading as Decoding. The purposes of the main field test were: (1) to evaluate the effects of the course on the participating teachers, (2) to evaluate four reteach treatments on teacher skill acquisition, (3) to compare scores for central city and suburban teachers, and (4) to…

Differences in reading achievement of bilingual and monolingual groups of fifth, sixth, and seventh graders were investigated in several Texas schools where the Czech-American culture was significant. Sixty-three bilingual students were compared with monolingual students who had Czech surnames or Czech-American backgrounds, on the basis of…

The evaluation reports submitted by local educational agencies (LEAs) in Virginia during 1974-75 are the bases of the data and information contained in this report. Some of the highlights of the analyses conducted on Title I programs are as follows. In the area of administration, enrollment in Title I classes has been concentrated in grades one…

Investigates the effects of pause prompt and praise feedback procedures for teacher trainees working with parent tutors of reading. Indicates that (1) trainees used intrusive prompts when asked to help parents in any way they could to implement the procedures and (2) following training trainees used much less intrusive prompts. (JD)

Examines different approaches to reading acquisition used in four first grades of a suburban elementary school. Supports the use of a language experience approach as a viable alternative to the basal reader approach for teaching reading and writing. (JK)

This issue brief, based on a meeting of a group of distinguished researchers, educators, and policymakers convened by the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) explores lessons from research and practice about the role of an intentional curriculum and professional development and supports for teachers in closing the achievement gap for…

In March 2005, Governor Tom Vilsack and a committee of 12 legislators endorsed proposals intended to "make Iowa's public schools more efficient and improve achievement." Among the proposals was one calling for an education commission that would recommend to the 2007 Legislature a minimum school district and high school size. In light of…

"Enhanced Proactive Reading" a comprehensive, integrated reading, language arts, and English language development curriculum, is targeted to first-grade English language learners experiencing problems with learning to read through conventional instruction. The curriculum is implemented as small group daily reading instruction, during…

The statistical technique, "Zero-One Linear Programming," that has successfully been used to create multiple tests with similar characteristics (e.g., item difficulties, test information and test specifications) in the area of educational measurement, was deemed to be a suitable method for creating multiple sets of matched samples to be…

This summative evaluation of magnet programs employed a quasi-experimental design to investigate whether or not students enrolled in magnet programs gained any achievement advantage over students who were not enrolled in a magnet program. Researchers used Zero-One Linear Programming to draw multiple sets of matched samples from the non-magnet…

This study investigated the relationship between the scales used for the Palmetto Achievement Challenge Tests (PACT) assessments and the RIT scales used to report performance on Northwest Evaluation Association tests. The RIT scale was developed using Rasch scaling methodologies. RIT-based tests are used to inform a variety of educational…

The guidelines included in this booklet draw from a 5-year study reported in "Beating the Odds: Teaching Middle and High School Students to Read and Write Well," which investigated English programs in 44 classrooms in 25 schools in four states. The booklet states that, by comparing typical programs with those that get outstanding…

This review of the literature discusses 15 studies that have been conducted on the effect of computer-based instruction on the academic achievement of at-risk students in elementary schools in the United States. The at-risk population consists of those students who are in the free- and reduced-school lunch programs, those students who are…

As noted in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD's) "PISA 2000 Technical Report" (OECD, 2002), the Austrian sample for the PISA 2000 assessment did not adequately cover students enrolled in combined school and work-based vocational programmes as required by the OECD's technical standards for PISA. The…

The Council of the Great City Schools prepared this report to review the Dayton (Ohio) Public Schools District's performance as a way to help address its declining enrollment and stagnant student achievement. The goal of the project was to determine why the academic performance of Dayton's students was not improving and what the district could do…