"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Senate Approves $5.4 Billion Increase for Education Budget: Large Differences in House and Senate Budget Resolution…

This study investigated the interactive effects between students' opportunity to learn (OTL) in the classroom, two language-related testing accommodations, and English language learner (ELL) students and other students of varying language proficiency, and how these variables impact mathematics performance. Hierarchical linear modeling was employed…

This study examined the predictive association between gender, ethnicity, and homework parental involvement, self-regulated learning processes, and motivational beliefs among 10th grade high school students. It was predicted that students' motivational beliefs and self-regulatory processes would be significant predictors of students' math academic…

The results of the SAT 9 tests administered to Guam students in grades 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, and 11 have consistently indicated below average academic performance in the subjects of reading, math and language arts over the past decade of testing. To ensure that students attain the necessary skills and knowledge in reading, math, and language arts,…

The Heard Museum (Phoenix, Arizona) has developed and updated an integrated curriculum for use in grades K-3. The goals for this curriculum are to: (1) share museum resources with schools; (2) promote cross-cultural understanding through a focus on rain, a universal requirement for life; (3) help students understand that Native Americans are…

The Heard Museum (Phoenix, Arizona) has developed and updated an integrated curriculum for use in grades K-3. The goals for this curriculum are to: (1) share museum resources with schools; (2) promote cross-cultural understanding through a focus on rain, a universal requirement for life; (3) help students understand that Native Americans are…

The authors are in the process of interweaving mathematical ideas and the cultural contributions of the indigenous peoples of the Americas into what they teach. They are interested in how mathematics can be viewed culturally through the teaching of Indian Studies and Cross Cultural Education classes, how cultural components can be included in…

This is a report on the 2000-2001 academic performance of Arizona community college students who are also Arizona high school graduates. The report provides information on the number of Arizona high school graduates enrolled in each community college during the academic year and the average grade point average (GPA) of these students in their…

This manual contains information about the contents of a database that provides information about efforts to match changing goals for student achievement to ideas about instruction. The database, available on disk, contains descriptive information on alternative assessments in science and mathematics. The database uses a broad definition of…

Over the next ten years, the United States will need to train an additional 1.9 million workers in the sciences. Increased participation of women and minorities is essential in meeting the projected need for Science, Mathematics, and Engineering (SME) workers. Women, who received 56% of B.A.'s overall, comprised 37% of the SME bachelor degrees…

This document records testimony from a hearing held to examine how federal agencies can improve their individual and collective efforts to strengthen K-12 science and math education. Presenters and witnesses included: Representative Sherwood L. Boehlert, Chairman, Committee on Science, U.S. House of Representatives; Representative Bart Gordon,…

The development in the last decade of methodology for measuring and scaling household food insecurity and hunger in U.S. populations makes possible systematic examination of the ways in which hunger and food insecurity affect individuals and families. The impact on children has always been of primary concern for policy, advocacy, and science…

The Education Policy Institute (EPI) conducted an analysis of recent academic data collected from 24 KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) schools on behalf of the KIPP Foundation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate these data to determine whether KIPP schools have had a positive impact on the student learning of 5th-grade students as…

Interviewing students, though a common and popular activity in teacher education programs has been scarcely researched as a strategy to prepare prospective teachers for mathematics teaching. This study explores the role of interviews as occasions for prospective elementary school teachers to learn three essential practices in the teaching of…

This paper describes an approach to mathematics teaching and learning using teacher-constructed "virtual" materials. In this approach, virtual copies of real materials are manipulated with mouse movements to replicate the traditional physical manipulation of real materials. The paper reports on three case studies where the approach was…