The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in Reading regularly collects achievement information on representative samples of students in grades 4, 8, and 12. Through The Nation's Report Card, the NAEP Reading Assessment reports how well students perform in reading various texts and responding to those texts by answering…

The reading framework for the 2017 NAEP describes the types of texts and questions that should be included in the assessment, as well as how the questions should be designed and scored. The assessment measures students' reading comprehension and ability to apply vocabulary knowledge by having them read passages in English and answer questions…

The TIMSS 2011 International Database includes data for all questionnaires administered as part of the TIMSS 2011 assessment. This supplement contains the international version of the TIMSS 2011 background questionnaires and curriculum questionnaires in the following 10 sections: (1) Fourth Grade Student Questionnaire; (2) Fourth Grade Home…

The importance of formative assessment in facilitating student learning has been well established in the literature. However, defining and implementing formative assessment in classroom settings is a rather complicated task. The aim of this study is to explore formative assessment, as implemented in primary classrooms in Cyprus, and develop a…

Since the early part of the 20th century, researchers in the fields of cognitive psychology and education have studied the ill-effect of noise on the social, physiological, and psychological aspects of the human psyche. In order for academic progress to take place, it is important for all teachers to select instructional methods and accommodations…

We use data from a large-scale experiment conducted in Indiana in 2009-2010 to examine the impact of two interim assessment programs (mCLASS and Acuity) across the mathematics and reading achievement distributions. Specifically, we focus on whether the use of interim assessments has a particularly strong effect on improving outcomes for low…

The Regulations of the Commissioner of Education provide that an elementary-level science test is to be administered in Grade 4 to serve as a basis for determining students' needs for academic intervention services in science. The New York State Grade 4 Elementary-Level Science Test consists of two required components: a Written Test and a…

We estimate relative achievement effects of the four most commonly adopted elementary mathematics textbooks in the fall of 2008 and fall of 2009 in California. Our findings indicate that one book, Houghton Mifflin's "California Math," is more effective than the other three, raising student achievement by 0.05 to 0.08 student-level…

The paper reports on the adaptation of a D-KEFS test battery for Slovakia. Drawing on concrete examples, it describes and illustrates the key issues relating to the transfer of test items from one socio-cultural environment to another. The standardisation sample of the population of Slovak pupils in the fourth year of primary school included 250…

In accordance with the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law of 2001, 100% of students were expected to become proficient on state assessments of reading and mathematics by the end of 2013-2014 academic year. Schools that consistently failed to meet the NCLB's Adequate Yearly Progress requirements were subject to penalties. In 2011, the U.S.…

Finnish students have been among the world's strongest performers on standardized assessments throughout the past decade. Consequently, educators and scholars are interested in how to explain such results. A common explanation, as seen on social media, is that Finnish educators do not regularly assess their students. This study explores educators'…

The 10th anniversary of Common Core's launch offers the opportunity to take stock of the impact these nearly national standards have had on student learning, as well as their future prospects. In this article, Morgan Polikoff shares his view that the standards movement in general, and Common Core in particular, have achieved all they are going to…

Curriculum Associates' "i-Ready® Personalized Instruction" ("i-Ready") is a supplemental, online personalized instruction program available for reading and mathematics. Prior research has indicated "i-Ready" has a positive impact on K-8 student achievement for students overall (e.g., Swain, Randel, & Norman…

Curriculum Associates' "i-Ready® Personalized Instruction" ("i-Ready") is a supplemental, online personalized instruction program available for mathematics and reading. Prior research has indicated "i-Ready" has a positive impact on student achievement for students overall (e.g., Swain, Randel, & Norman Dvorak,…

This What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) report, part of the WWC's Teacher Excellence topic area, explores the effects of the "eMINTS Comprehensive Program," referred to as "eMINTS" in this report, on student achievement. The strong influence of teachers on student outcomes, as well as the variation in teacher effectiveness, has led…