In the first comprehensive analysis of Illinois' statewide survey of school climate and learning conditions, this report finds systematic differences among schools in the degree to which students and teachers report strength in the five essential supports. Previous University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research (UChicago CCSR)…

We examined the progress of kindergarteners who entered the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) in 2008-09 and in 2010-11 who were identified as limited in English proficiency (LEP). For the 2008-09 cohort, English proficiency increased steadily over time. Few were able to exit LEP status in their first three years in WCPSS (10.5%); this…

The vocabulary learning is one of very important part in the college English teaching. Correct analysis of the result of vocabulary strategy instruction can offer feedbacks for English teaching, and help teachers to improve the teaching method. In this article, the issue how to use SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Science) to…

This study examined the performance of children with autism on selected measures of reading achievement and cognitive-linguistic ability. How children with autism performed on three reading achievement measures, Letter-Word Identification, Passage Comprehension, and Oral Reading Fluency, and two cognitive-linguistic measures, Rapid Letter Naming…

Input and output models of policy implementation have failed to address the complexity of implementing policies. Prior studies reveal that policies are never equivalent across contexts. Instead, they are filtered as they travel from the macro-level to the micro-level of policy implementation. This understanding provides a framework for examining…

Federal, state, and local government agencies are promoting merit pay systems that are tied to student achievement. The main problem facing governments, school districts, and educators is that money is hard to come by in the current market and choosing where to spend merit pay monies to receive a maximum rate of return on the investment realized…

This causal/comparative study answered: Does the attainment of year-end kindergarten reading benchmark status vary between students enrolled in half-day kindergarten and those enrolled in full-day kindergarten after controlling for differences in initial instructional recommendations? The researcher analyzed the 2005-2006 achievement of 906…

Reading growth from preschool to Grade 5 was evaluated in a sample of 964 children using multi-group latent growth curve analysis. Groups consisted of children assigned to six different school readiness profiles based on social and cognitive characteristics. Results indicate modes interrelationships between kindergarten readiness profiles, teacher…

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact professional development has on student achievement. Specifically, the study was to examine the impact of teachers' professional development activities on student achievement. This was carried out by quantitatively examining the amounts of professional development (number of activities and…

The study examined how the English reading performance of predominantly Spanish-speaking students in transitional bilingual education compared with the performance of predominantly Spanish-speaking students in structured English immersion. The study analyzed data on three cohorts of students in six schools in Los Angeles; Denver; Albuquerque; St.…

The Nation's Report Card[TM] informs the public about the academic achievement of elementary and secondary students in the United States. Report cards communicate the findings of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a continuing and nationally representative measure of achievement in various subjects over time. Results from the…

In fall 2009, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched the Measures of Effective Teaching (MET) project to test new approaches to recognizing effective teaching. The project's goal is to help build fair and reliable systems for teacher observation and feedback to help teachers improve and administrators make better personnel decisions.…

A fundamental challenge facing students who are English Learners is the interplay of oral language development--being able to speak and understand a language--and literacy development--learning to read and write the language. This interplay is especially challenging because each developmental process--oral language development and literacy…

Prior research indicates that pre-kindergarten programs have not fully closed the gap between low-income and middle-income children regarding phonological awareness and vocabulary knowledge, two key predictors of later reading success. The current study examined Head Start teachers' views of and challenges in implementing instruction to improve…

Outcomes and findings from an evidence-based approach to targeting primary school students' developmental reading comprehension levels for effective learning are described. Nineteen schools participated in a literacy assessment project designed to monitor and improve the reading comprehension achievement levels of their students. The project…