Since its introduction in 2017, NFER has been contracted by Ofqual to develop, deliver and analyse the results of the National Reference Test (NRT) in English and Maths. The NRT is administered annually and shows if student performance in English and maths at GCSE level has changed from year-to-year. This year, more than 13,000 Year 11 students…

Since its introduction in 2017, NFER has been contracted by Ofqual to develop, deliver and analyse the results of the National Reference Test (NRT) in English and maths. The NRT is administered annually and shows if student performance in English and maths at GCSE level has changed from year-to-year. This year, more than 13,000 Year 11 students…

Since its introduction in 2017, NFER has been contracted by Ofqual to develop, deliver and analyse the results of the National Reference Test (NRT) in English and maths. The NRT is administered annually and shows if student performance in English and maths at GCSE level has changed from year-to-year. This year, around 13,000 Year 11 students from…

Although Montessori is the most common unconventional education model, no multi-state study has compared standardized test proficiency of Montessori schools with districts. Here we report on this for the 10 states/regions with the most public Montessori schools (n = 195). In 3rd grade, Montessori schools were less proficient in math but more…

Although Montessori is the most common unconventional education model, no multi-state study has compared standardized test proficiency of Montessori schools with districts. Here we report on this for the 10 states/regions with the most public Montessori schools (n = 195). In 3rd grade, Montessori schools were less proficient in math but more…

This technical report documents the processes and procedures implemented to support the Spring 2021 Nebraska Student-Centered Assessment System (NSCAS) Phase I Pilot in English Language Arts (ELA), Mathematics, and Science assessments by NWEA® under the supervision of the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE). The technical report shows how the…

The enduring monolingual mindset in English-speaking countries results in widespread belief that additional language learning takes time away from literacy in the societal language. Yet, extensive research has shown that time spent learning additional languages enhances learners' literacy skills, providing first language literacy is sufficiently…

The COVID-19 pandemic caused widespread disruptions to the educational system in Nebraska and across the world. At the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, schools in Nebraska were forced to replace on-site instruction with virtual instruction. During the 2020-2021 academic year, many students learned online or under hybrid learning formats.…

Since its introduction in 2017, NFER has been contracted by Ofqual to develop, deliver and analyse the results of the National Reference Test (NRT) in English and maths. The NRT is administered annually and shows if student performance in English and maths at GCSE level has changed from year to year. The NRT results are based on analysis of data…

In Winter 2021-2022, the Nebraska Student-Centered Assessment System (NSCAS) assessments are administered in ELA and mathematics in Grades 3-8. In Spring 2021-2022, the NSCAS assessments are administered in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics in Grades 3-8 and in science in Grades 5 and 8. The purposes of the NSCAS assessments are to…

Languages differ in the way that speech and meaning are represented in written form: in English, the correspondences are variable. Thus, in learning to read in English there is need for an approach that combines alphabetic decoding and a mastery of sight vocabulary. Teaching children to read should develop from an analysis of the skills and…

The Spring 2020 Nebraska Student-Centered Assessment System (NSCAS) General Summative testing was cancelled due to COVID-19. This technical report documents the processes and procedures that had been implemented to support the Spring 2020 assessments prior to the cancellation. The following sections are presented in this technical report: (1)…

In Fall and Winter 2022-2023, the NSCAS assessments were administered in ELA and mathematics for grades 3-8. In Spring 2022-2023, the NSCAS assessments were administered in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics for grades 3-8 and in science for grades 5 and 8. The purposes of the NSCAS assessments are to measure and report Nebraska students'…

Since understanding reading assignments is important to succeeding in school, improving the way that text is arranged in books would be an efficient way to help students better understand the material and perform well on tests. In this study, we asked students to read two original and two rearranged historical passages, in which rephrased…

Each year the National Reference Test (NRT) reports the proportions of students achieving at or above three key GCSE grades in English and mathematics. The NRT is therefore uniquely placed as a Key Stage 4 assessment which compares performance directly at ability level, to contribute to the evidence on the impact of disruption to education due to…