This review critiques the highly-praised and influential 2001 study, "Getting Tough? The Impact of High School Graduation Exams," which concluded that "minimum competency," or high school "graduation exams," had no effect on student achievement. The review compares the test classifications of "Getting…

This study assesses the long-term linguistic and academic outcomes associated with different bilingual language education models for low-income dual language learners (DLLs) residing in a bilingual, bicultural context. As part of the Miami School Readiness Project (MSRP), we analyzed the impact of program model on gains in English language…

Effect sizes are commonly reported for the results of educational interventions. However, researchers struggle with interpreting their magnitude in a way that transcends generic guidelines. Effect sizes can be interpreted in a meaningful context by benchmarking them against typical growth for students in the normative distribution. Such benchmarks…

Independent schools are, for the most part, exempt from mandatory participation in standardized tests designed for state and federal comparisons, nor are they required to take part in comparative international assessments. The anxiety in the broader culture, however, is driving a growing interest among independent school parents (and prospective…

Project Clarion, a Jacob K. Javits-funded project, focused on the scale-up of primary-grade science curricula. Curriculum units, based on an Integrated Curriculum Model (ICM), were developed for high-ability learners, but tried out with all students in Title I settings to study the efficacy of the units with all learners. The units focus on the…

Turning around chronically low-performing schools requires a multifaceted school-wide, systematic effort that includes strong leadership and data-based decision making. School-wide efforts to turn-around low-performing schools should address the academic, social, and behavioral needs of all students. One evidence-based, systematic school-wide…

General outcome measures (GOMs) provide educators with a means to evaluate student progress toward curricular objectives. Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) is one type of GOM that has a long history in the research literature with strong empirical support. With the increased emphasis on instruction linked to state standards and statewide…

While major test publishers randomly select school districts for their national norming studies, a survey of "accepting" and "declining" districts supports the hypothesis that self-selection bias results in overrepresentation of districts which already use a specific publisher's tests or instructional materials. (Author/BW)

Examines the controversy surrounding the administration of the Metropolitan Achievement Test on reading and the subsequent recall of the results data by the chancellor of the New York City schools. (IRT)

Test wiseness (TW) has been recognized as an important source of variance on standardized achievement tests, independent of content or random error. To help students develop the type of TW skills necessary for optimal performance on reading achievement tests (ie. time using, guessing strategies), a comprehensive TW skills instructional program…

The following information on the development of the 1978 Metropolitan Achievement Tests (MAT), fifth edition, is given; the purpose and importance of item analysis, steps preceding item tryout, characteristics of the sample population, and data obtained. Item analysis allows elimination of undesirable items, adjustment of the difficulty level of…

The underlying theme of the 1979-80 Hartford Public Schools Group test results was maintenance of the status quo. There were both gains and declines in city-wide averages: individual subtest gains in some cases, put Hartford at or above the national norm (math computation in grades 2, 3, and 4), while the reading comprehension averages in grades 7…

The effects of students taking different levels of the same standardized achievement test were assessed by administering two levels of the same test to each student. The functional level of the test was taken by all students. The second level of testing was randomly assigned at the adjacent higher or lower level of the test. Functional level…