This report summarizes AISD 2008-2009 program evaluation results for a state grant to improve students' grades in science courses, to increase students' chances of graduating, and to increase 10th and 11th-grade students' scores on the state science test.

This study examined the effects of the Living Skills school-based intervention program as a method of improving school adjustment and the social lives of at-risk elementary school students. Youth participants were referred to the program by teachers or school counselors based on perceptions of risk due to rejection and isolation, aggressive and…

Most K-12 evaluations are designed to make inferences about how a program implemented at the classroom or school level affects student learning outcomes and such inferences inherently involve hierarchical data structure. One methodological challenge for evaluators is linking program implementation factors typically measured at the classroom or…

The purpose of this study was to provide information concerning the academic performance of students who were permitted to continue on probation while hovering slightly below university requirements. The sample consisted of 212 academically dismissed students who were readmitted to the College of Education at Kent State University. The results…

This paper briefly reviews some of the circumstantial explanations for the unusual grip the report "A Nation At Risk" (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983) has had on the imagination of the U.S. public. Beyond these explanations, "A Nation At Risk" is a unique form of lament when it was published, not only did…

Essay written by sophomore is utilized for argument against universal education for underachieving youth. (AD)

Describes three transitional mathematics courses designed to upgrade high school math courses and lure more low-achieving students into college-preparatory math courses: California's Math A Program; Rochester, New York's Stretch Regents Program; and Buffalo, New York's University of Chicago School Math Project. Transcript data from 4,800 students…

Designed an instrument to measure adolescents' attitudes toward school and teachers, goal-valuation, motivation, and general academic self-perceptions. Tested the developed survey with samples of 146, 200, and 299 high school students. Findings suggest the scale has adequate construct validity, criterion-related validity, and internal consistency…

Analyzes 10 innovative training cases that use methods based on strong links between education and work. Formulates recommendations for the training of low-skilled adults. (SK)

Discusses issues involved in the identification of schools with the lowest student performance and uses test data for New York City elementary schools to demonstrate the extent to which choices about how to aggregate individual test results can affect the identification of low-performing schools. Introduces fuzzy logic as a tool for identifying…

Studied 11 schools put on probation by state accountability systems of Maryland and Kentucky for low performance. Findings show that putting schools on probation only motivated teachers weakly because the assessments were perceived as unfair, invalid, and unrealistic. Discusses the few schools that remedied inefficiencies. (SLD)

A substantial amount of research in mathematics education seeks to document disparities in achievement between middle-class White students and students who are Black, Latina/Latino, First Nations, English language learners, or working class. I outline the dangers in maintaining an achievement-gap focus. These dangers include offering little more…

Background: There has been an ongoing debate about the inconsistent effects of heterogeneous ability grouping on students in small group work such as project-based learning. Aim: The present research investigated the roles of group heterogeneity and processes in project-based learning. At the student level, we examined the interaction effect…

This study aimed at investigating the actual strategic behaviors of high and low achievers in reading comprehension and their relation with respective performance. The participants were 45 individually examined third graders, 20 high and 25 low reading comprehension achievers. Cognitive, metacognitive, and motivational aspects of the participants'…

The problem addressed in this study was that little was known about the impact on student academic achievement, when grouped by learning style, in a multiple intelligence based science curriculum. The larger problem was that many students were frequently unengaged and, consequently, low achieving in their science courses. This quantitative study…