Background: The options for technology in an educational setting is growing exponentially. But the question remains, how can technology be used to improve reading instruction in an elementary classroom? It has been proposed that using an LCD projector to enable all students to see the text and pictures could increase reading comprehension.…

Often referred to as "The Nation's Report Card," the mathematics assessments of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) have come to be regarded by many policymakers as the primary yardstick by which to judge our schools' success in meeting national expectations. This monograph reports and interprets trends in NAEP…

This paper will review several important constructs in the area of social and emotional development of children in grades 2-5. The importance of social and emotional development has become increasingly evident in light of new research on the brain and the development of programs to prevent social and behavioral disorders in youth. This review will…

The impact of goal attainment in a dietary change program to increase fruit, 100% juice, and vegetable consumption was assessed among fourth-grade students. At each session, the students were given goals related to increasing fruit, juice, and vegetable consumption. Baseline consumption and postconsumption were assessed with up to 4 days of…

Measuring History complements the cases presented in Wise Social Studies Practices (Yeager & Davis, 2005). Yeager and Davis highlight the rich and ambitious teaching that can occur in the broad context of state-level testing. In this book, the chapter authors and I bring the particular state history tests more to the fore and examine how…

This article describes Project Athena, a Javits program funded by the U.S. Department of Education and developed through the Center for Gifted Education at the College of William and Mary. Project Athena seeks to find ways to help impoverished children develop advanced skills in reading comprehension, literary analysis, and persuasive writing. Its…

This paper presents the appendices to the "High-Stakes Testing and Student Achievement: Problems for the No Child Left Behind Act" report. It contains the following appendices: (1) Example of Context for Assessing State-Level Stakes Sheet--Connecticut; (2) Example of Completed Rewards and Sanctions Worksheet--Connecticut; (3) Directions…

This bulletin is for those who sincerely want to understand the nature of a modern elementary school program. It presents a point of view, offers many illustrations of what happens in a classroom in the course of a school day, and interprets what children do, say, and learn as they work together with their teacher. Education should consist of…

This technical report presents an overview of a reading assessment used by a large school district in the Pacific Northwest. It provides sufficient background information to enable those unfamiliar with the assessment to understand the various subtests that comprise it as well as its development and application in the district for making…

The author begins this article by relating the experiences of her fourth-grade students who had just completed an intensive four-week project that involved crafting arguments to convince their local school board to allow a field trip to the Missouri state capitol so they could explore their state's government in person and in depth. Just one year…

Reading First is a federal initiative authorized by the No Child Left Behind Act. The U.S. Department of Education provides Reading First grants to states, which, in turn, award subgrants to eligible school districts that submit approved proposals for how they will apply scientifically based reading research to improve reading instruction and…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has increased the role of assessment in K-12 education. Designed to ensure that all students meet high academic standards, the law currently requires states receiving Title I funds to test all children annually in reading and math in grades 3 through 8 and report student performance disaggregated by poverty,…

One of the main challenges that US schools face in educating English language learners is developing their academic literacy. This paper presents case studies of two K-12 schools that successfully employ high-technology environments, including laptop computers for each student, toward the development of English language learners' academic language…

In this age of greater accountability, local school districts within the USA increasingly use summer school programs as an intervention service to provide students who have failed to meet classroom, district, or state performance requirements with the opportunity to "catch up." Although such programs attempt to provide varying types of…

Part of the new Knowledge Essentials series, "Fourth Grade Success" shows parents how to enrich their children's classroom learning and take an active role in their fourth graders' education by exploring: (1) What fourth graders are learning at school and the educational standards to expect in math, language arts, science, and social studies; (2)…