We present a naturalistic case study of one teacher's development of a growth-centered context for classroom assessment. In-depth interviews, analysis of student work, and observations were used to identify the processes this teacher used to engage her students in the assessment process. Data were analyzed using listening guide analysis to garner…

Measures of Academic Progress® (MAP®) Science for use with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) assessments are available for the 2016-17 school year. These new assessments measure student growth toward understanding of the multidimensional NGSS performance expectations. This report presents MAP Science for use with NGSS by presenting and…

Little is known empirically about intraclass correlations (ICCs) for multisite cluster randomized trial (MSCRT) designs, particularly in science education. In this study, ICCs suitable for science achievement studies using a three-level (students in schools in districts) MSCRT design that block on district are estimated and examined. Estimates of…

This quantitative study extends previous research on the impact of one to one (1:1) laptop environments on student outcomes in English Language Arts (ELA) by focusing on students from various socio-economic backgrounds, while using a new technology-enhanced, state-administered assessment to measure performance. This study is significant because…

Literacy assessment scores in an urban 5th grade classroom left much to be desired. In this diverse classroom population, typical urban distractions such as poverty, crime, English as a second language, and lack of parental support contribute to extremely low literacy scores. This classroom study examined the effects of implementing clickers, a…

Understanding the features of science learning experiences that organize and motivate children at early ages can help educators and researchers find ways to ignite interest to support future passion and learning in the sciences at a time when children's motivation is declining. Using a sample of 252 fifth-and sixth-grade students, we…

This study investigated the complexity of leveled passages used in four classroom reading assessments. A total of 167 passages leveled for Grades 1-6 from these assessments were analyzed using four analytical tools of text complexity. More traditional, two-factor measures of text complexity found a general trend of fairly consistent across-grade…

Rational number concepts underpin many topics in advanced mathematics and understanding these concepts is a prerequisite for students' success in high-school level courses. Students with rational number misconceptions that are not diagnosed and remediated in the middle grades are likely to encounter difficulty in high-school mathematics courses.…

Interest in 21st century skills has brought concomitant interest in ways to teach and measure them. Games hold promise in these areas, but much of their potential has yet to be proven, and there are few examples of how to use the rich data from games to make inferences about players' knowledge, skills, and attributes. This article builds an…

Most research on linguistic features of test items negatively impacting English language learners' (ELLs') performance has focused on lexical and syntactic features, rather than discourse features that operate at the level of the whole item. This mixed-methods study identified two discourse features in 162 multiple-choice items on a standardized…

Many schools identified by states as needing improvement through their Elementary and Secondary Education Act waivers have selected Response to Intervention (RTI), a three-tiered instruction program sometimes referred to as tiered levels of instruction, as one of their main strategies for improving school performance and closing achievement gaps.…

Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest assisted Milwaukee Public Schools in developing a fidelity monitoring system for measuring schools' progress in implementing Response to Intervention (RTI). The study examined the ratings produced by that system to determine the system's reliability, schools' progress in implementing RTI, and whether ratings…

If you are a teacher of grades K-6, you may be asking, "Should I teach grammar in my classroom on a daily basis? How would I go about doing this? And how can I teach grammar so it isn't boring to my kids?" In "Grammar Matters," Lynne Dorfman and Diane Dougherty answer these questions and more. Using mentor texts as the…

Students with significant cognitive disabilities present an assessment dilemma that centers on access and validity in large-scale testing programs. Typically, access is improved by eliminating construct-irrelevant barriers, while validity is improved, in part, through test standardization. In this article, one state's alternate assessment data…

The aim of this study is to explore, describe and analyse the assessment process in two different Swedish year-five classrooms. The study is mainly based on observations and interviews with pupils and teachers. The data were analysed in relation to Bernstein's (1977, 2000) theoretical concepts of classification, framing, codes, and pedagogic…