This publication contains Arizona public schools' academic standards for grade 4. The contents of this document include the following: (1) The Arts Standard 2006--Grade 4; (2) Comprehensive Health Education/Physical Activity Standards 1997--Essentials (Grades 4-8); (3) Foreign and Native Language Standards 1997--Essentials (Grades 4-8); (4)…

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) creates a unique opportunity for states, districts, and high schools to work in concert on behalf of high school students. Generally, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds are not intended to create new programs; rather, the majority of the funds are intended to fill gaps in existing…

Long Island Sound is an estuary of national significance and provides important economic, recreational, and aesthetic value to the citizens of Connecticut and New York. Investigations have been conducted regarding living marine resources and nutrient loading. However, Long Island Sound is often overlooked as an educational resource. This guide is…

"Keeping Pace" has several goals. First, it strives to add to the body of knowledge about online education policy and practice and make recommendations for advances. Second, it serves as a reference source for information about programs and policies across the country, both for policymakers and practitioners who are new to online…

This policy research document is intended for Louisiana policymakers to use when examining possible changes to the state assessment's alignment with the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The 2009 NAEP test is not yet in existence, so the purpose of this report is to give policymakers a head start in determining where they might,…

These dynamic literature-based activities will help teachers energize the entire social studies curriculum and implement national (and state) standards. The author presents hundreds of "hands-on, minds-on" projects that actively engage students in positive learning experiences. Each of the 62 units offers book summaries, social studies…

The "NCAA Guide to International Academic Standards for Athletics Eligibility" provides specific criteria to be used as a guide in reviewing the initial eligibility (graduation, core curriculum, grade-point average and ACT/SAT test scores) of students who have completed any portion of their secondary education in a non-United States…

This report contains estimates of the cost to California's public schools of meeting the state's achievement standards. In the aggregate, the cost is about 40 percent greater than the expenditures of California schools in 2003-04. The bulk of these additional costs are for resources needed to boost achievement in schools primarily serving students…

Calls for more school instructional time are coming from multiple quarters. Academic standards and frequent assessments have changed the nature, but not the length, of the instructional day. Schools find themselves "robbing Peter to pay Paul," taking time from the arts, recess, and physical education to give to reading and math, subjects that…

The "No Child Left Behind" Legislation has altered the landscape of elementary schools across the nation. This alteration has left many educators and parents wondering whether children are being robbed of their childhood in order to meet the legislation's many mandates. Across the nation, traditional school days, instructional programs,…

In this article, the authors discuss 4 critical components of mathematics assessment that relate to instruction: (a) teachers need to be knowledgeable about mathematical standards and align them with assessment; (b) assessment should combine formal and informal approaches to obtain a more authentic picture of students' performance and meaningfully…

Understanding and implementing effective classroom assessments are skills that are essential to increasing student achievement. Unfortunately, many teachers have had little training in assessment strategies in either graduate or undergraduate programs. Administrators, therefore, must find innovative ways to help their teachers think like assessors…

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act is the largest incursion of the federal government into education in American history. More than $12 billion is attached to unprecedented requirements for all students, poor and nonpoor, to reach a level of academic proficiency. Title I and its NCLB reauthorization explicitly allot funds to individual schools…

The popular reality television show "Amazing Race" involves participants searching for clues and completing tasks as they progress on a journey all over the world. Inspired by the show, the author incorporated some of the tasks from "Amazing Race" with geocaching, a game in which participants use a Global Positioning System…

The accuracy of achievement test score inferences largely depends on the sensitivity of scores to instruction focused on tested objectives. Sensitivity requirements are particularly challenging for standards-based assessments because a variety of plausible instructional differences across classrooms must be detected. For this study, we developed a…