Montessori is a highly individualized pedagogy that prioritizes following each child's individual interests over standardized test scores. This quasi-experimental study compares groups of Montessori students (treatment groups, N = 535-710) with control groups of non-Montessori students, matched through the simple matching method, which controls…

Although the number of countries conducting large-scale assessments has increased significantly over the past two decades, this has not necessarily led to the effective use of learning assessment data in policy-making and planning. To better understand the reasons for this, the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP)…

Large-scale learning assessments can be used to generate performance and contextual data on student learning outcomes. They can be national, regional, or international; school based or household based. The UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP-UNESCO) has conducted a qualitative study to explore both how and why learning…

This guide was created as a resource to help families better understand "Measures of Academic Progress"® (MAP®), and their child's results. The guide provides answers to a variety of questions such as: "What is MAP?"; "What does MAP measure?"; "How do schools and teachers use MAP scores?"; "Can MAP tell…

The purpose of this research study was to investigate the relationship between the components of school climate and leadership behaviors on student achievement in an urban school district in the mid-atlantic region. School climate and leadership behaviors for the participating school districts was determined by the School Climate Survey (Corner…

The present study investigates the relationship between childhood placement in special education and adult well-being among 1,377 low-income, minority children participating in the Chicago Longitudinal Study. Roughly 16% of the sample received special education services in Grades 1 to 8. After accounting for sociodemographic factors and early…

Notwithstanding dramatically low levels of professed religiosity in Western Europe, the religious school sector continues to thrive. One explanation for this paradox is that nowadays parents choose religious schools primarily for their higher academic reputation. Empirical evidence for this presumed denominational advantage is mixed. We examine…

California has the largest share of the English Language Learner (ELL) student population in the U.S., and it continues to grow. English Language Learners are the fastest growing group in the public school population and they are underachieving. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the longitudinal changes in the performance of English…

Recent studies indicate that examiners make a number of intentional and unintentional errors when administering reading assessments to students. Because these errors introduce construct-irrelevant variance in scores, the fidelity of test administrations could influence the results of evaluation studies. To determine how assessment fidelity is…

Educational leaders are charged with making informed decisions regarding various aspects of schooling that affect the overall achievement of students. Numerous legislative ideas, funding initiatives, programming standards, and practicing guidelines for early childhood education programs have been introduced (Buyssee & Wesley, 2006). Early care…

This article provides a statistical analysis of the reading gains observed at one American school in the Caribbean that was using Accelerated Reader. It provides an estimate of the number of hours students needed to read to advance their reading performance an additional year. The authors estimate how much Accelerated Reader contributed to the…

In 2005, a group of concerned parents who had arrived in the United States as refugees from war-torn Somalia received approval from their local school district to establish the Iftin Charter School (ICS). The K-8 school continues to engender hope and intellectual strength in its students and parents. ICS finds itself uniquely equipped to meet the…

The present article examines the effect of population distribution on L1 (Italian) and L2 (German) acquisition in the multilingual context of South Tyrol, Italy. Population distribution is regarded as a central variable to assess the impact of two factors included in willingness to communicate (WTC) theory: (1) Fear of assimilation to the L2…

The study examined the effect of charter school attendance on annual student achievement growth in math and reading.The research described in this report is consistent with WWC evidence standards with reservations. Strengths: Matched charter school students to similar students in traditional public schools using demographic and academic…

Parent involvement programs can play an essential role in the academic success of Latino youth. This article reports the effectiveness and evaluation of two new Extension programs that help Latino parents become more involved in their youths' academics. The Latino Parent and Family Advocacy and Support Training (LPFAST) targets parents of K- 8th…