This report is about understanding the periods of progress and the periods of stagnation in changes in the achievement gap that have occurred over the past several decades. The authors try to understand what might have contributed to the progress as well as probe the reasons that may account for the progress halting, in the hope of finding some…

District-level leadership often has been perceived as irrelevant to educational reform. This study compared district political and apolitical board and superintendent turnover to student performance change on the state criterion-referenced test. Results included student test score decline as board turnover increased, particularly in smaller…

This longitudinal study followed students (n = 265) from kindergarten through seventh grade and examined early social and academic predictors of school performance at two normative school transitions. Questions addressed include: (a) are there changes in students' school performance over time, especially at school transition points; (b) are…

For a multitude of reasons candidates do not always complete all assessments in the examinations they are entered for. Using examination data across a range of GCSE specifications offered by the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance, this article details the impact of "unaccepted" absence on educational attainment, and explores absence…

In an effort to answer the "Educational Call to Arms", our national public schools have turned to Advanced Placement (AP) courses as the predominate vehicle used to address the lack of academic rigor in our public high schools. Advanced Placement is believed by many to provide students with the rigor and work ethic necessary to…

The process by which schools decline over time has not received the same media or scholarly attention as school improvement. The imperative to improve chronically low-performing schools has led educators, policymakers, and researchers to tinker with school reforms without fully understating how and why failure developed in the first place.…

This article reports on a new study which concludes that teachers entering the profession today have higher academic qualifications than their counterparts a decade ago. The report, released this week by the Educational Testing Service, says the finding bodes well for greater student learning because of the evidence that teachers' academic ability…

Considers what literacy teachers can do to prevent subsequent school failure and lowered test scores with media attention on school violence and trauma in and out of schools. Suggests bibliotherapy, a familiar tool used in earlier decades by teachers to counsel students with problems, is useful today in dealing with students who suffer from…

A series of 8 tests was administered to university students over 4 weeks for program assessment purposes. The stakes of these tests were low for students; they received course points based on test completion, not test performance. Tests were administered in a counterbalanced order across 2 administrations. Response time effort, a measure of the…

Contends distinction between normal and abnormal aging of the brain changes as data emerge which identify as pathology what had previously been considered the norm. Reviews research on effects of aging in twins begun in 1940s, focusing on facts related to intellectual decline, neuropsychological test performance relationship to dementia, and…

Examines two samples of students classified as learning disabled (LD) for evidence of the phenomenon known as the Flynn effect (FE). Results indicate that the FE does affect Wechsler IQ and component scores of students classified as LD. Suggests that LD classification may be substantially impacted by the FE over the life of an IQ test version.…

Reports 1990 SAT scores for Blacks, women, Native Americans, Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Asian Americans, and compares them with 1989 and 1976 scores. National scores show a slight decline this year, while scores for Blacks are unchanged and scores for Asian Americans and Native Americans show gains. (DM)

Observes that there has been no accounting of the history of the teaching of sociology. Suggests that the journal, "Teaching Sociology," can help bring attention to teaching. Notes that sociology majors' grades and standardized tests scores have declined. Argues that sociology instruction must become more effective and must implement value added…

This study of 139 K-12 Milwaukee public schools examines the effect of building condition on student test scores compared to other influences such as family background, socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, attendance, and student discipline. The study analyzed performance on the Wisconsin Student Assessment System Mathematics, Science, Language,…

Past researchers of education candidates have remarked that educational administration (EA) has attracted students of below-average verbal, quantitative, and analytic scores as measured by standardized tests. This is a two-fold problem: (1) Principals with high overall academic ability are more likely to be viewed as leaders in…