SAT participation and performance are milestones on the path to college and career readiness. This report provides the results for SAT participation and performance in Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools (MCPS) for the class of 2014. Analysis of postsecondary outcomes for MCPS graduates indicates that graduates who took the SAT were more…

This report focuses on the initial development of the predicted score paths for ACT Aspire reporting. The paths provide predicted score ranges for the next two years--as well as predicted ACT score ranges for tests administered at grades 9 and 10. Longitudinal ACT Aspire data for students tested in spring 2013 and spring 2014, as well as…

Writing is an essential skill for participating in modern American society. Although it is crucial to careers and civic engagement, student writing falls far short of national expectations (College Board, 2004; NCES, 2012; Persky, Daane, & Jin, 2003). The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) seek to increase the rigor of writing instruction…

ELTeach is an online professional development program developed by Educational Testing Service (ETS) in collaboration with National Geographic Learning. The ELTeach program consists of two courses: English-for-Teaching and Professional Knowledge for English Language Teaching (ELT). Each course includes a coordinated assessment leading to a score…

This study investigated the effects that critical literacy instruction had on comprehension in a seventh grade reading class. Numerous studies have examined critical literacy instruction in the classroom, as well as effective methods of comprehension instruction; however, few studies have combined these two lines of inquiry. Therefore, the purpose…

The purpose of this study was to reveal whether there is a relationship between students' volume of text messaging and formal writing performance on the Scholastic Aptitude Test writing section. The study also examined gender as a contributing variable in this measure. As a supplementary correlation, student text message volume was also compared…

Students' achievement in writing descriptive text is very low, in this study Think Pair Share (TPS) is applied to solve the problem. Action research is conducted for the result. Additionally, qualitative and quantitative techniques are applied in this research. The subject of this research is grade VIII in Junior High School in Indonesia. From…

This study explores the following research question: How do secondary English learners (ELs) and Re-designated fluent English proficient students (RFEPs) use academic words in analytical writing in comparison to native English speakers (NESs)? It highlights previously overlooked differences in academic word use in the writing of students who are…

Using generalizability (G-) theory, this study examined the accuracy and validity of the writing scores assigned to secondary school ESL students in the provincial English examinations in Canada. The major research question that guided this study was: Are there any differences between the accuracy and construct validity of the analytic scores…

Extensive studies have been conducted regarding mother tongue (L1) interference and developing English writing skills. This study, however, aims to investigate the influence of the Spanish language on second language (L2) writing skills at several Ecuadorian senior high schools in Loja. To achieve this, 351 students and 42 teachers from second…

This study reports Korean English language learners' perceived needs concerning their learning of reading and writing and how the integrated reading and writing instruction impacts their reading comprehension and summary-writing abilities. The study also delineates teacher's challenges faced during the instruction. A total of 93 students in a…

School students increasingly use digital technologies at home to enhance learning and bridge the school-home divide. The porous learning project was designed to explore the factors that both enabled learning and created barriers to learning at home for students in a low socioeconomic community using the digital learning environment, which we refer…

The present study examined pedagogic components of Chinese reading literacy in a representative sample of 1164 Grades 7, 9 and 11 Chinese students (mean age of 15 years) from 11 secondary schools in Hong Kong with each student tested for about 2.5 hours. Multiple group confirmatory factor analyses showed that across the three grade levels, the…

Is there an achievement gap for online reading ability based on income inequality that is separate from the achievement gap in traditional, offline reading? This possibility was examined between students in two pseudonymous school districts: West Town (economically advantaged) and East Town (economically challenged; N = 256). Performance-based…

In Quebec the high-stakes Secondary Five ESL exit writing exam developed by the Education Ministry (MELS) is administered and corrected by classroom teachers. In this distinctive situation, the MELS works toward aligning classroom-based assessment (CBA) and the writing exam by making ongoing teacher involvement part of its development and…