All primary school children in England are to be entitled to learn a foreign language by 2010, based on the belief that an early start is beneficial for language learning in the long run. However, the evidence of the benefits of an early start is inconclusive, and it is also unclear what type of curriculum and pedagogy would be most appropriate…

In this study, the authors employed a multilevel analysis procedure to examine the key pupil- and school-level factors that influenced reading and mathematics achievement among Grade 5 primary school pupils in Laos. The data for this study were collected in 2007 as part of a major project (known as Laos Grade 5 Survey) that sought to examine the…

Self-concept is linked to student achievement in many domains. In this study, we examined reading self-concept's (RSC) and RSC calibration accuracy's links to reading achievement across different contexts via multi-level analyses of 34 countries' 158,848 fifteen-year-olds' reading tests and questionnaire responses. Students with higher RSC, higher…

Creating research-based expectations and education strategies for all teachers to implement consistently are the beginning steps in giving all students access to standards-based curriculum and in creating readers, writers, and content learners. Reading aloud is one research-based practice that enhances achievement for all students, whether they…

Benefit-cost analysis was conducted to estimate the increase in earnings, increased tax revenues, value of less crime, and reductions in welfare costs attributable to nationwide implementation of rapid assessment, a promising intervention for raising student achievement in math and reading. Results suggest that social benefits would exceed total…

The disparity between the results of state accountability tests in reading and the fourth-grade National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has left many educators dismayed and concerned. In this article the authors describe a comparison of assessment approaches evident in NAEP to the approaches taken in a sample of state tests. The authors…

Reading achievement and academic challenges of Sudanese children were investigated. Sudanese parents, and their children, and English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers were interviewed. Parents' and children's interviews were transcribed and four themes were generated from the data: Cultural Differences/Practices; Parent roles and expectations;…

Purpose: Research shows that trust is significantly related to academic achievement. This study expands knowledge of this connection in two ways. First, because a stratified, random sample of elementary schools from an entire state was used, the results have considerable generalizability. Second, this study tested the relationship between trust…

Background: The latest report by the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), issued in 2006, indicated that Hong Kong Primary 4 Chinese students outperformed children from 45 countries and provinces in reading comprehension tests that measured their higher-order reading proficiency. However, the study gave no indication of how…

This study explored the longitudinal reading achievement of students who participated in the Reading Recovery program in a rural, mountainous school district over an eight-year period of time. The "ex post facto" design utilized data from the "North Carolina End-of-Grade Assessment of Reading" to describe the reading…

As children grow, they transition from home to school environments, where they acquire and master knowledge and skills, and develop an image of themselves as learners and develop several types of relationships with adults as they grow. As they enter and remain in school, these relationships expand from being solely with parents and caretakers to…

Purpose, scope, and method of study: The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between teacher-licensure level in the New Mexico Three Tiered Licensure (NM 3-TL) System and gains in student academic achievement in reading and mathematics in grades four and five. A secondary purpose was to determine whether student…

In "Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control" (1997), Albert Bandura writes, "Teachers operate collectively within an interactive social system rather than as isolates" (p. 243). Bandura's attention to the existence of the communal systems that exist in schools is an appreciation shared by many educational reformers, especially those who advocate…

As a result of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001, many school districts have reduced instructional time for the arts in order to focus on reading and mathematics. Accordingly, fine arts programs across the nation have become subject to budget cuts or elimination in order to meet federal accountability measures. Hit especially hard are…

The essays of this dissertation contribute to the understanding of how public schools respond to competition in educational markets. Evidence is drawn from the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, the longest-running and largest-scale private school voucher program in the United States. A major justification school choice programs is that they…