The purpose of this quasi-experimental, ex post facto correlational study was to determine, within a racially imbalanced educational setting, what impact, if any, a seventh or eighth grade student's race had on their perceived connectedness to school. For this study, perceived connectedness to school was measured by responses to a Likert-like…

The study aimed to identify significant disparities in the reading growth of English learners (ELs) enrolled in either push-in or pull-out EL services, as measured by the ACCESS and MAP assessments. Conducted at a middle school in southwestern Illinois, the research focused on the impact of different EL programming types on the reading performance…

Ever since the 1983 landmark study, "A Nation at Risk", was released, educators have been examining the effectiveness of instructional time in American schools (Pedersen, 2012). However, school calendars have remained stagnant and seemingly a product of society and economy, tied to agriculture, for over 100 years (Turner & Finch,…

This study examined whether the intensive reading intervention affects annual reading level growth in middle school students to mitigate reading loss from the COVID19 school closures. Participants included struggling middle school readers (N = 101) from a rural district in east Texas. Student participant Measures of Academic Progress (MAP)…

It is now well established that the COVID-19 pandemic had a devastating and unequal impact on student achievement. Test score declines were disproportionately large for historically marginalized students, exacerbating preexisting achievement gaps and threatening educational and economic inequality. In this paper, we use longitudinal student-level…

Responsive coaching at engage2learn is an innovative, and with this and previous reports--an evidence-based solution. This 2021-2022 study compellingly validates the efficacy of the engage2learn program through an exploration of NWEA MAP® Growth™ and STAAR test scores for Math and Science, Grades 6-8. LXD Research, an independent research firm,…

Prior research on the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), a computer-adaptive test distributed by the Northwest Evaluation Association, has primarily focused on the Reading MAP for screening/benchmarking in elementary grades. The purpose of this study was to explore the functional form of growth and the extent to which student variability in…

School districts choose programs based on limited data, word of mouth, or cost-effectiveness. STEM-based schools often choose project-based learning (PBL) programs to deliver curricula through limited research and word of mouth effectiveness. This study evaluated one PBL program implementation in the context of a suburban Texas middle school by…

Assessment of language skills for upper elementary and middle schoolers is important due to the strong link between language and reading comprehension. Yet, currently few practical, reliable, valid, and instructionally informative assessments of language exist. This study provides validation evidence for Monster, P.I., which is a gamified,…

This direct replication study compared the use of dichotomized likelihood ratios and interval likelihood ratios, derived using a prior sample of students, for predicting math risk in middle school. Data from the prior year state test and the Measures of Academic Progress were analyzed to evaluate differences in the efficiency and diagnostic…

NWEA claimed their assessment results could accurately predict student performance in reading and mathematics on the ACT Aspire for students in Grades 7 through 10. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between students' scores on the NWEA MAP tests in reading and mathematics and the ACT Aspire for students in Grades 7…

Phonemic awareness is thought to be a causal factor predicting early reading acquisition while its influence diminishes as other reading skills develop. This is a descriptive study of 74, primarily African American, fifth- through eighth-grade students attending a small, inner-city school. The study sought to determine the relationship between…

Sources of longitudinal achievement data are increasing thanks partially to the expansion of available interim assessments. These tests are often used to monitor the progress of students, classrooms, and schools within and across school years. Yet, few statistical models equipped to approximate the distinctly seasonal patterns in the data exist,…

In this brief we examine how variability in students' math and reading test scores changed across the pandemic, including whether increased dispersion was concentrated at one part of the test score distribution. Using reading and math assessment data from a sample of 8 million students in grades 3-8 in 24,000 public schools who took MAP Growth…

The purpose of this technical appendix is to share more detailed results and to describe more fully the sample and methods used in the research included in the brief, "The Widening Achievement Divide during COVID-19." The authors investigated two main research questions in this brief: (1) To what degree have students' reading and math…