Nurta Muktar, a 17-year-old refugee of Somali heritage, learned to read this school year at East High School. It likely would not have happened if East High did not provide classes in basic reading skills for English-language learners (ELLs). And the school likely would not have such classes, some Salt Lake City teachers say, if the U.S.…

As the ongoing national indicator of what American students know and can do, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in Reading regularly collects achievement information on representative samples of students in grades 4, 8, and 12. Through The Nation's Report Card, the NAEP Reading Assessment reports how well students perform in…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has mandated that all public school students will be reading at grade level by the 2013-2014 school year. Florida has embarked on an agenda to ensure that the kindergarten through high school student population is reading at or above grade level by 2014. Many of Florida's low-performing student population,…

In response to test-based accountability (No Child Left Behind, 2001), schools and districts across the country are adopting a variety of supplemental assessments aimed at improving student performance. These interim assessments are administered more than once during the school year for the following purposes: (1) predicting student performance on…

Background/Context: As accountability pressures have mounted toward ever-higher targets under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, low-achieving schools have sought new tools for raising achievement. The association between parent involvement and student achievement is well established, though the association is an indirect relationship mediated…

Although closing the achievement gap is one focus of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), one third of Georgia's third-grade special education students did not meet the state mandated standards on the reading section of the 2008 Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT). The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the effects of…

This study of Kentucky's 4th-grade NAEP reading scores was designed to: (1) describe progress from 2002-2007; (2) examine score gaps by gender, race, eligibility for free/reduced lunch, and 75th/25th percentile 2002-2007, (3) explore relationships between teacher-quality and 2005/ 2007 scores. The study, begun at 2007 NAEP data training, was…

"Policy Perspectives" presents visiting authors' own views and/or research on issues relevant to schools and communities nationwide. The idea that reading skill is largely a set of general-purpose maneuvers that can be applied to any and all texts is one of the main barriers to our children's overall low achievement in reading, argues…

Efficacy of an explicit phonological awareness intervention embedded within repeated shared book reading with preschool children from low-income backgrounds with language delays was investigated. A multiple-baseline design across behaviors assessed the effects of phonological awareness training on rhyme and letter-sound knowledge with 13 preschool…

Title III of Public Law 107-110 (No Child Left Behind; NCLB) provided for creation of assessments of English language learners (ELLs) and established, through the Enhanced Assessment Grant program, a platform from which four consortia of states developed ELL tests aligned to rigorous statewide content standards. Those four tests (ACCESS for ELLs,…

We evaluated the validity of DIBELS ("Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills") ORF ("Oral Reading Fluency") for predicting performance on the "Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test" (FCAT-SSS) and "Stanford Achievement Test" (SAT-10) reading comprehension measures. The usefulness of previously…

This research study examined the use of student achievement on reading and math state assessments to predict success on the science state assessment. Multiple regression analysis was utilized to test the prediction for all students in grades 5 and 8 in a mid-Atlantic state. The prediction model developed from the analysis explored the combined…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 allows states to assess students with "significant cognitive disabilities" on "alternative content standards" for determining adequate yearly progress. Alternative standards that align with regular content standards can allow for a continuum of performance expectations from very basic to…

This study examined the effects of a Direct Instruction (DI) reading program combined with Precision Teaching during a public school's summer program. Students received instruction from "Reading Mastery" programs for a six-week period. Students also practiced specific reading skills including letter-sound identification, sounding out…

This case study of reading activity in third-grade bilingual classrooms at a state-sanctioned "successful" school examines the influences of the California accountability framework--Proposition 227, No Child Left Behind, and the federal Reading First program--on shifting beliefs and practices around what "counts" as reading.…