This policy research document is intended for Arkansas policymakers to use when examining possible changes to the Arkansas state assessment's alignment with the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The 2009 NAEP test is not yet in existence, so the purpose of this report is to give policymakers a head start in determining where they…

Research into the correlation between television viewing practices and academic achievement has long been a major concern of educators. This study established that a negative correlation coefficient existed between the number of television viewing hours per day and SRA Achievement Test scores of selected fourth and seventh grade students in one…

Using the US national sample from the 1995 Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), this study examined students' competence levels in understanding the matter concept at grades 3, 4, 7, 8 and high school graduation, and compared them to the expectations in the US national science education standards. It was found that…

This paper addresses the controversial issues of improving the reading skills of young learners through technology-assisted reading programmes. On reporting the results of primary school learners from grade 2 to grade 7 who participated in a computer-based reading programme for seven months, we try to answer the critical questions of whether…

As part of compliance with with the federal No Child Left Behind Act, this document presents the State Report Card of Arizona for 2009-2010. The report card provides tables relating to percentage of students who passed AIMS in Arizona by subject and grade. The tables shown in this document include: (1) Mathematics Grade 3; (2) Reading Grade 3; (3)…

In this study, we tested the claim that sex differences in mathematics achievement are related to boys' and girls' differing achievement-related beliefs. We compared the mathematics report card grades, 2001 Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) Numeracy subtest scores, performance attributions, and self-efficacy of 161 British Columbian public school…

Open-ended questions were used to obtain narrative accounts of what makes a girl (or a boy) popular (or unpopular) at school. The participants were 489 African American students in Grades 1, 4, and 7 recruited from high-risk inner-city neighborhoods. Appearance and self-presentation were mentioned the most in Grades 4 and 7. Prosocial…

The tables presented in this document show the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) results for the past two years. Twenty-four tables show results as percent at each performance level and percent passing, as well as percent of students tested. The tables shown in this document include: (1) Mathematics Grade 3; (2) Reading Grade 3; (3)…

The main goal of this report is to present evidence on the predictive validity of an English language arts (ELA) performance assessment (PA) administered in Grades 2-9 in a large urban school district. To account for the hierarchical structure of the data (students are nested within schools), we employed hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to…

Of the 1,828 grade 6 students who received accelerated instruction outside of the regular classroom, 27% participated in both reading and math interventions. Of the 1,872 grade 7 students who participated in accelerated instruction outside of the classroom, 26% participated in both reading and math interventions. The overall state test results for…

The federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) brought new challenges and opportunities for the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA). Like many states, Pennsylvania was faced with adding assessments in grades 4, 6 and 7 in reading and mathematics. However, unlike most states, Pennsylvania did not respond to NCLB by simply adding…

This investigation focused on the vocabulary beliefs and instructional practices of social studies teachers in intermediate and middle school grades as well as their use of teachers' manuals. Using a self-reporting survey to measure these beliefs and practices, we found some discrepancy between what teachers believe about vocabulary learning and…

The students targeted were third and fourth grade students with learning-disabilities and seventh-eighth grade science students who exhibited poor test scores, motivation, and behaviors that negatively impacted their learning. The objective of this study was to change the level of student engagement in order to increase their academic achievement…

In the last 30 years or so, science educators in the Western world have come to recognise the importance of the social and cultural context in which learning occurs (Cobern, 1993, 1994; Hodson, 1993; Leach & Scott, 2003) and have, through such movements as science, technology, society and the environment (Pedretti, 1997; Solomon, 1991; Solomon…

While the influence of individuals' participation in practices of economic subsistence on the development of mathematical knowledge has been widely reported in the literature, there are not as many studies about the relationship between cultural life and mathematical cognition in the context of recreational practices. This article reports a study…