This digest examines findings from two studies on the minority achievement gap in suburban schools. The first study, by Ronald Ferguson, analyzed data on middle and high school students from the Minority Student Achievement Network. In the second study, John Ogbu investigated how K-12 African American students' identity as an oppressed group…

In May 2002, a letter criticizing Reading Recovery was widely distributed to members of Congress and the education community via the Internet. The letter builds a distorted case based on flawed research and selective reporting of Reading Recovery studies. Reading Recovery is a short-term intervention for the lowest-achieving children in first…

Reading Recovery (RR) is a short-term intervention for the lowest-achieving children in first grade. Children meet individually with a specially trained teacher for 30 minutes daily for 12 to 20 weeks. There is substantial scientific evidence to support Reading Recovery's effectiveness with the lowest-performing first-grade students. Reading…

This Getting Started guide contains material presented at a two-day Additional Literacy Support (ALS) training course in the summer of 1999. ALS is designed to help pupils in Key Stage 2 who have already fallen behind in literacy, but who would not otherwise receive any additional support in this area. Each module includes a practical, high…

This study explored the feasibility of using the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) teacher assessment and certification process as part of a comprehensive strategy to improve professional culture and teaching quality in low-performing schools. Data from surveys of NBPTS California Support Network members were used to…

This study explored the perspectives of teachers, administrators, and students as they were engaged in a 5-year funded project aimed at improving science and mathematics achievement for African American students in a school district. The study also discusses the obstacles that hindered and the supports that bolstered this project. In this study,…

This paper studies the impact of the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunities (METCO), a desegregation program that sends mostly black students out of the Boston public school district to attend schools in more affluent suburban districts. It examines METCO's impact on the test scores of third, fifth, and seventh graders in a large…

To gain some insight into test preparation, some testing experts were asked to share their thoughts from their own parenting experiences. A crucial performance factor for a substantial number of students is test anxiety. According to University of Southern California Professor Harold O'Neil, Jr., "The relationship between high anxiety and…

Drawing from 1990 and 1996 data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), this study examined disparities between White and African American students' mathematics performances and classroom experiences, with attention to interactions among race, socioeconomic status (SES), and gender. Overall, NAEP scores increased for both…

This paper examines the responses of four high schools to new accountability policies in two states, New York and Vermont. In each state, one school that was better positioned with respect to the policy and one that was a target of the policy were studied. New York's policy attaches high stakes for students though the Regents high school exit…

The relationship between high stakes testing and retention was studied in Florida in the context of educational reform and controversy over the effectiveness of retaining students in grade. The focus was on the relationship between the percentage of students in grades 1, 3, 5, 7, and 8 falling below the 50th percentile on the Stanford Achievement…

This project was initiated in response to the science and mathematics language needs of Sea Island students who speak African-American dialects. Research has indicated that there appears to be a relationship between dialect diversity and academic success. In response, the program's goals were to identify students who exhibited dialect/language…

This report focuses on the education of Latinos in Arizona, offering a global overview of the complex, multifaceted problems that contribute to the generalized disenfranchisement of this group. Data portray the current status of the education of Arizona's preK-16 Hispanics. The report is based on longitudinal and comparative and disaggregated…

This study explored the relevance of funding equality on student performance in a large, urban Kentucky county. Data were collected from the district annual report on elementary schools, the Kentucky State Data Center (socioeconomic information), and the county planning commission (geographical information). Data analyses identified the best…

This report considers the state of science and mathematics achievement in the United States, with a focus on the lower average achievement of minority students and on the relatively high proportion of minority students who achieve at high levels in mathematics and science. The data and analyses available from many sources suggest that meeting the…