In response to concerns about poor engagement and achievement in reading, some high schools have implemented independent reading programs to give students time to read self-selected texts during school. Some schools are also adopting the Lexile framework as a tool for matching readers with challenging texts in order to improve reading motivation…

The state of Oklahoma and the federal government have spent hundreds of millions of dollars over the past decade in pursuit of expanding the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) as a means of ensuring highly qualified teachers for every student. This study aimed to discover whether or not there was any relationship between…

The historical research study will focus on the development and growth of virtual education programs for K-12 students, with primary emphasis on the states of Florida, California, and Pennsylvania. The term virtual education will be used interchangeably throughout this document with online courses and e-learning. The purpose of this historical…

The purpose of this study was to find out which assessment data are used by elementary principals who are currently practicing in Title One California elementary schools with populations of at least 600 students, API scores of 700 or higher, and 40% or more English Learners (ELs) to inform instructional efforts at the school site level to improve…

The San Diego Unified School District, the nation's eighth-largest, launched an ambitious program of literacy reforms in 2000 aimed at narrowing reading achievement gaps. Known as the Blueprint for Student Success, the program ran through 2005. The reforms succeeded in boosting the reading achievement of students who had been identified as lagging…

This technical appendix provides more detail on the reading reforms implemented under the Blueprint for Student Success project in the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) between 2000 and 2005. It provides details on the dataset, the econometric methods the authors employed, and the results, which are also detailed and discussed in the main…

Does differential access to computer technology at home compound the educational disparities between rich and poor? Would a program of government provision of computers to early secondary school students reduce these disparities? The authors use administrative data on North Carolina public school students to corroborate earlier surveys that…

This report reviews achievement gaps in both reading and math between ELL and non-ELL students in Arizona over the post-Proposition 203 period 2005-2009 and during the first year of implementation of the 4 hour ELD block, 2008-09. The study finds that Arizona has made little to no progress in closing the achievement gap between ELL and non-ELL…

This Information Capsule answers the most frequently asked questions about M-DCPS' academic performance during the 2009-10 school year. M-DCPS earned a performance grade of "B" in 2010 and was only four points short of an "A." Over half of the District's schools (57 percent) earned an "A." Overall, the District's…

In January, 2010, Iowa Kids Count produced a special report that showed long-term trends in Iowa student reading and mathematics scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the only source for comparative state information on student achievement. The January report showed a decline in Iowa's ranking since 1992, when the first…

Much has been written about student preparation for standardized tests such as: get enough sleep, do not eat sugary food or drinks, eat a well-balanced meal, wear comfortable clothing, bring appropriate supplies especially extra #2 pencils, answer every question, write neatly and legibly, deduce wrong answers immediately and use all of the time…

This report shows the longitudinal TAKS passing rates by subject area for AISD's English language learner students over time (2005-2006 to 2008-2009).

The International Reading Association (2003) has recently established new guidelines for graduate students enrolled in reading and literacy programs. These guidelines require graduate students to maintain direct contact with students during their coursework for advanced degrees. Field experiences support best practices in bridging the gap between…

The joint contributions of child effortful control (using inhibitory control and task accuracy as behavioral indices) and positive teacher-student relationships at first grade on reading and mathematics achievement at second grade were examined in 761 children who were predominantly from low-income and ethnic minority backgrounds and assessed to…

Over the last decade, the federal government has directed schools to provide educational instruction for students with special needs in general education settings to the extent possible. While there is mixed evidence on the effects of these inclusion policies on the students with special needs, research examining potential spillovers of inclusion…