Math programming that includes assessments to predict standardized mathematics scores can help evaluate student performance and growth during the academic year. ACALETICS® is a highly interactive, culturally inclusive mathematics program that utilizes posttests as continuous comprehensive assessments to evaluate student mathematical knowledge.…

Whether students of color are more or less likely to be identified as having disabilities than similarly situated students who are White in U.S. states with histories of de jure and de facto racial segregation is currently unknown. Unadjusted analyses of large samples of students attending elementary and middle schools in the U.S. South yielded…

The National Summer Learning Project (NSLP) examined the implementation and effectiveness of voluntary summer learning programs developed by five school districts--Boston, Massachusetts; Dallas, Texas; Duval County, Florida; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Rochester, New York--and their local community partners. The study spanned three phases. The…

In many ways standards-based school reform is at a crossroads. On one side, the movement has made tremendous strides. The Common Core State Standards Initiative, known simply as Common Core, is now strongly established in more than 40 states. Many teachers believe that the new, higher academic standards have helped them improve instruction. And,…

Florida requires that students who do not meet grade-level reading proficiency standards on the end-of-year state assessment (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, FCAT) receive intensive reading intervention. With the stakes so high, teachers and principals are interested in using screening or diagnostic assessments to identify students with a…

At the request of the Urban League of Miami, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) analyzed the distribution of teachers in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. In this paper, the authors examine teacher-level data to determine whether indicators correlated with teacher quality vary across the district based on socioeconomic differences, and…

A major debate among education reformers over how best to reduce the achievement gap broke out during the 2008 presidential campaign. Most advocates on both sides backed Barack Obama, but they urged him to pursue different policies. The Education Equality Project (EEP) supported a continuation of accountability and other school-focused reforms.…

The relatively poor academic achievement of black and Hispanic students has been a national concern since the passage of the "Elementary Secondary and Education Act" in 1963. Frustrated with relatively slow progress in closing these educational gaps, the most recent reauthorization of the ESEA, the "No Children Left Behind Act of…

Jeb Bush campaigned for Governor on a clear and bracing set of education reforms in 1998. Having won office, he immediately pursued a dual track strategy of education reform: standards and accountability for public schools, choice options for dissatisfied parents. Florida lawmakers followed these reforms with additional measures, including…