Although visual art is considered a subject deemed by the federal government as part of the core curriculum, many elementary schools do not include this subject into the current core curriculum of studies. This review of literature provides insight through current qualitative and quantitative studies on the effectiveness of including visual art…

SREB states were among the first in the nation to implement statewide high school exams. Today, these exams are a key component of each state's accountability system. This report identifies which states use comprehensive exams and which use end-of-course exams, how students perform on them, and whether achievement gaps have narrowed. It also…

Fundamental to statistical analyses is the comparison of means of one variable from two or more populations. Population samples may be constructed (i.e., experimental and control groups), or they may be natural groupings (i.e., students at a particular grade in different years). If the populations are similar, the mean comparisons are…

The current study used three data sources to estimate time requirements for different item types on the now current SAT Reasoning Test™. First, we estimated times from a computer-adaptive version of the SAT® (SAT CAT) that automatically recorded item times. Second, we observed students as they answered SAT questions under strict time limits and…

The purpose of the study is to examine teachers' perceptions of the Open Court language program. Open Court is published by McGraw Hill and has been approved by the "No Child Left Behind Act" as an appropriate research-based reading program. The Open Court program was adopted as part of the efforts to provide all elementary school…

The art of reading refers to the act of representing and interpreting text through oral dramatic reading. To the dismay of many teachers, reading is becoming a "lost art." Students are expected to apply specific literacy techniques rather than use their imagination to learn to enact text. Based on a study of the reading perceptions of natural oral…

This study compared the influence of teacher and learner characteristics on general and special educators' predictions of student success. Two groups of teachers, 384 general educators and 384 special educators, reported year of experience and responded to case studies describing a student for whom gender, reading achievement, social behavior, and…

This article examines universal screening, one component in a response to intervention approach for serving struggling learners. In a response to intervention framework, screening is the principal means for identifying early those students at risk of failure and likely to require supplemental instruction; as such, it represents a critical juncture…

In this study, we examine grade-level growth rates for general education students and students with learning disabilities in grades two to six. In conducting the study, we demonstrate how schools, districts, and state educational agencies can use a combination of Curriculum-Based Measurement and Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) methods to…

This study investigates the relationship between the number of students with special needs (designated as exceptional or receiving special education services) in grade-3 classrooms in 1997-1998 and their achievement scores in reading, writing, and mathematics on Ontario's provincial assessment with their peers without special needs. When the…

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act is currently being reviewed in Congress for reauthorization. NCLB, among the most significant U.S. education initiatives, reauthorized the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act and is founded on four primary objectives: (1) increasing accountability for states, school districts, and schools; (2) giving…

Students whose language, ethnicity, and race are not represented in a school's dominant culture experience varying degrees of success in reading achievement, resulting in persistent gaps in reading achievement. Culturally responsive instruction can help to close that gap. This teaching strategy capitalizes on the knowledge and literacy strategies…

This study examined factors affecting motivation for reading, writing, and spelling in primary grade students using a new measure, the Early Literacy Motivation Survey (ELMS). First-graders (198) responded to questions measuring attributions, self-efficacy, and perceived competence. The ELMS uses scenarios and short tasks to contextualize the…

Little is known about the underlying causes and developmental patterns of stability and change in early reading abilities. In a longitudinal study of twins (n=4,291 pairs), individual differences in reading achievement assessed by teachers using U.K. National Curriculum (NC) criteria showed substantial heritabilities at ages 7, 9, and 10 years…

This study tracked the reading progress of former Reading Recovery students in Darlington County, South Carolina over a period of four years. The purpose of this study was to investigate the reading achievement outcomes of one hundred thirty three students who received (or recognized as eligible to receive) Reading Recovery tutoring during first…