This study examined the effect of a supplemental, multicomponent reading intervention with 75 seventh graders who scored below grade level according to a battery of assessments. Students received a yearlong reading intervention during the 2021-2022 or 2022-2023 school year. Students' pretest and posttest data were compared to determine the impact…

The purpose of this study is to examine how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the learning of students in public education through the analysis of standardized assessment performance before and during COVID-19. The study also compares virtual learning and face-to-face students' change in performance on the standardized assessments. To answer the…

Purpose: This study investigated the reading profiles of middle school Spanish-speaking emergent bilinguals (EBs) with significantly below grade level reading comprehension and whether these profiles varied in their reading comprehension performance over time. Method: Latent profile analyses were used to classify Grade 6 and 7 Hispanic EBs (n =…

This study utilized secondary analyses of a randomized controlled trial and investigated the extent to which prestest word identification efficiency, reading fluency, and vocabulary knowledge moderated the effects of an intervention on reading comprehension outcomes for struggling readers in sixth through eighth grades. Given that the experimental…

Education has faced unprecedented disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic; evidence about the subsequent effect on children is of crucial importance. We use data from an oral reading fluency (ORF) assessment--a rapid assessment taking only a few minutes that measures a fundamental reading skill--to examine COVID's effects on children's reading…

This research investigates the impact of teaching Shakespeare to below-grade-level readers in an English Language Arts classroom on Chicago's South Side. The students studied are five middle school boys who were observed over a two-year course of study under the same teacher who, after finding success with this method, found herself asking, how is…

A paucity of research has examined the utility of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) for data-based decision making at the secondary level. As schools move to multitiered systems of service delivery, it is conceivable that multiple screening measures will be used that address various academic subject areas. The value of including different CBM…

To measure the impact of fine arts instruction in HISD [Houston Independent School District] , the study compared the STAAR [State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness] performance, attendance, and disciplinary outcomes of fine arts students enrolled in Fine Arts Magnet schools (treatment group) with students enrolled in non-Fine Arts Magnet…

The study, "The Impact of Indiana's System of Interim Assessments on Mathematics and Reading," examined the effects of using Diagnostic Assessment Tools (DAT) on mathematics and reading outcomes for students in 59 Indiana schools during the 2009-10 academic year. DAT consists of interim assessment tools--Wireless Generation's mCLASS for…

The theory of action behind the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is that "shining a light" on subgroup performance will increase reading and math test scores for minority and disadvantaged students. Using a panel of all students in Grades 3 through 8 in North Carolina from 2000 to 2008 (N = 1.7 million students in 1,800 schools), the…

This article provides a statistical analysis of the reading gains observed at one American school in the Caribbean that was using Accelerated Reader. It provides an estimate of the number of hours students needed to read to advance their reading performance an additional year. The authors estimate how much Accelerated Reader contributed to the…

"Transfer Incentives for High-Performing Teachers: Final Results from a Multisite Experiment," examined the impact of the Talent Transfer Initiative (TTI) on both student achievement and teacher retention in 10 school districts across seven states. The initiative gave bonuses to high-performing teachers for them to transfer to and stay…

Development of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), and the creation of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (Smarter Balanced) and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), changes the pattern of accountability testing. These changes raise the question: "How should NAEP's validity and utility be…

The study featured in this What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) Quick Review examined the effect of charter school attendance on annual student achievement growth in math and reading. The study analyzed data from a large sample of students in grades 4 through 9 in Indiana from 2004 to 2008. The study found that charter school students' annual math score…

The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent struggling readers in the middle school (Grades 6-8) respond to interventions implemented through the response to intervention (RtI) model after being identified as having deficits in reading comprehension and fluency. The study examined progress of struggling sixth-grade students…