Much debate surrounding teacher quality has focused on students' standardized test scores, but recent federal and state initiatives have emphasized the use of multiple measures to evaluate teacher quality, including classroom observations. In this study, we explore differences across school districts in the relationship between student achievement…

This article explains how high-stakes standardised tests are distorting primary school mathematics and failing to promote pupils' cognitive development. It argues for observation and journaling for both formative and summative assessment in order to recover an emphasis on reflective mathematical understanding and problem-solving.

Many business programs address the learning of undergraduate students with an exit exam. A reference librarian and the business school faculty created an online test preparation study guide (or LibGuide) which included no-cost resources that were readily available yet academically authoritative to aid students in studying for the Educational…

Annual age grouping of children according to their birth year is a common practice of the educational systems of many countries. This variation in birth dates among children grouped in the same generation is known as relative age and its implications on different developmental outcomes are referred to as relative age effects (RAEs). The previous…

Students must choose when to take the ACT for the first time and if and when to retest. States and districts that administer the ACT test to all students must also choose when to administer the test. A key consideration in making these decisions is the impact on scores. Because the ACT is a curriculum-based test of academic achievement, students…

Due to increased accountability and budget shortages, school districts and administrators are utilizing school counselors to perform noncounseling duties at their Title 1 elementary schools. School counselors juggle multiple roles, heavy caseloads, and a myriad of duties while addressing students' academic, social, emotional, and career…

A growing number of states are interested in tracking the readiness of children entering kindergarten. In 2010, just seven states (Alaska, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, and Vermont) collected Kindergarten Entry Assessment (KEA) data for the purposes of aggregating data at the state level. Since this time, most states report…

Given that teaching Arabic, as a second language has become increasingly significant in the present context, it follows that there is an urgent and pressing need to develop efficient learning tools as well as adequate measuring tools for testing the learner's development. There are numerous problems associated with measuring a learner's…

In the United States, school-based mentoring programs are a large and widely funded form of mentoring. Despite widespread support, meta-analyses indicate that the effects of school-based mentoring programs are small. One hypothesis for these results is that school-based mentors are not able to develop a sufficiently high-quality relationship with…

This paper explores practitioner perspectives on effective inclusion within a school environment. Inclusion within school settings is more than children with a range of needs, including special educational needs (SEN) being taught together within a classroom. It is important that a school community recognises the uniqueness of each child and works…

Enhancing the quality of education has been placed high in the national policy agenda in Azerbaijan in recent years. Education policy makers are interested in developing quality curriculum for secondary education, implementing teacher development programs and creating a better learning environment. This study outlines one of the most significant…

"Classroom Assessment and Educational Measurement" explores the ways in which the theory and practice of both educational measurement and the assessment of student learning in classroom settings mutually inform one another. Chapters by assessment and measurement experts consider the nature of classroom assessment information, from…

The purpose of this brief is to summarize some of the past exclusionary practices that resulted from low expectations for students with disabilities, and how those were addressed in policies related to standards-based reform. The brief is based on a comprehensive paper that takes a cross disciplinary approach to examining expectations for students…

The "2024 Comprehensive Biennial Report on Texas Public Schools" describes the status of Texas public education, as required by §39.332 of the Texas Education Code. The report contains 16 chapters on the following topics: (1) state progress on academic performance indicators; (2) student performance on state assessments; (3) performance…

Using student-level longitudinal data from one large urban school district, I examine Long-term English Learners' (LTELs) characteristics and their linguistic and academic performance in comparison to on-track English learners and initially fluent students. I also investigate what factors are related to their becoming LTELs. This study focuses on…