In school-based randomized control trials (RCTs), a common design is to follow student cohorts over time. For such designs, education researchers usually focus on the place-based (PB) impact parameter, which is estimated using data collected on all students enrolled in the study schools at each data collection point. A potential problem with this…

Closing the achievement gap in public education is a worthy goal that has been included as a top priority in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (2002). This study analyzed the most salient predictors at the student and school levels to identify their long-term impact on mathematics achievement from the elementary grades to high school. The…

Nineteen percent of 1997-98 North Carolina 3rd graders were observed to drop out of high school. A series of logits predict probabilities of dropping out on determinants such as math and reading test scores, absenteeism, suspension, and retention, at the following grade levels: 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 9th. The same cohort and variables are used to…

This study investigated elementary teachers' observations of how a representative sample of achieving, average and struggling readers adapted the use of best practice comprehension strategies taught in the classroom as well as during instructional level guided reading time. A researcher-constructed strategy checklist was the instrument teachers…

The intense focus on standards and accountability is rapidly altering the education environment. Often the gauge for measuring school effectiveness is performance on high-stake state tests. In this retrospective cohort comparison study, I observe the relation between the use of curriculum-based measures (CBMs) for reading and change on a state…

Childhood exposure to even low levels of lead can adversely affect neurodevelopment, behavior, and cognitive performance. This paper investigates the link between lead exposure and student achievement in Massachusetts. Panel data analysis is conducted at the school-cohort level for children born between 1991 and 2000 and attending 3rd and 4th…

Summer setback, which is defined as a decline in academic achievement over the summer months, occurs in many academic areas but seems especially problematic in reading. We assessed students from a midwestern parochial school serving predominantly students from a low--socioeconomic status background for their reading achievement before they left…

If teacher value-added estimates (VAEs) are to be used as indicators of individual teacher performance in teacher evaluation and accountability systems, it is important to understand how much VAEs are affected by the data and model specifications used to estimate them. In this study we explored the effects of three conditions on the stability of…

In this study, we use the US nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort to examine inequalities in opportunities to learn mathematics. Specifically, we examine the characteristics of US students' elementary school math teachers and the instruction they provide. While our findings are consistent with previous…

This paper is based on qualitative research data from a project investigating early childhood boys' constructions of masculinities in relation to sport, health and the body. The focus group data, with 33 boys, has been collected in each of the boys' first three years at school. It is part of the data that will be collected over eight years with…

Eliminating inequity in public education is a central goal of the No Child left Behind (NCLB) act. Controlling for 3rd-grade performance, the impact of English language learner (ELL) status, socioeconomic status (SES), and special education (SPED) status on a cohort's reading performance was investigated from elementary to high school through a…

This report explores a new latent variable regression 4-level hierarchical model for monitoring school performance over time using multisite multiple-cohorts longitudinal data. This kind of data set has a 4-level hierarchical structure: time-series observation nested within students who are nested within different cohorts of students. These…

A major problem facing educators in the United States is how to determine when the nation's five million English language learners (ELL) are ready to exit language-learning programs, i.e. to be "reclassified" as fluent English proficient (R-FEP) and placed in mainstream classrooms without additional language support. No Child Left Behind…

The focus of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Legislation is to close the achievement gaps due to disadvantages based on minority status, socio-economic status, special education (SPED) or Limited English Proficiency (LEP). Poverty and culture have been consistently reported to have an impact on academic achievement. However, there have been few…

High levels of physical inactivity are evident among many American children. To address this problem, providing physical activity (PA) during the school day within the CSPAP framework, is one strategy to increase children's PA. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a classroom-based PA program on children's PA. Two hundred…