Early childhood professional organizations support teachers as the best assessors of students' academic, social, emotional, and physical development. This study investigates the predictive nature of teacher ratings of first-grade students' performance on a standards-based curriculum-embedded performance assessment within the context of a state…

Teacher judgments about students' academic abilities are important for instructional decision making and potential special education entitlement decisions. However, the small number of studies evaluating teachers' judgments are limited methodologically (e.g., sample size, procedural sophistication) and have yet to answer important questions…

This study examined whether having a teacher who chose an alternate route to certification (AC) rather than a teacher who chose a traditional certification route (TC) affects the reading and math achievement of elementary school students. The study included about 2,600 kindergarten through fifth-grade students and their 174 teachers. These…

When analyzed according to race and ethnicity, poverty level, parental education level, as well as other related factors in schools in America, academic achievement disparities negatively impact educational outcomes for poor children and children of color on a consistent basis. At all educational levels, academic achievement and attainments of…

The objective of this investigation was to examine how instructional practices in 107 first- and second-grade classrooms in 17 high poverty schools moderate the impact on literacy outcomes of literacy-related skills students bring to the classroom. Ratings of teaching effectiveness and time allocation to literacy activities were obtained. Twenty…