Statewide assessments in reading and math are required every year under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015, at an annual expense of billions of taxpayer dollars. Analyzing 10 years of school-level results from public schools in two states-- Nebraska and Texas--we found that year-to-year correlations of schools' test scores were…

These are the appendixes for the report, "English Proficiency and the Pandemic: How Texas English Learner Students Fared during the COVID-19 Pandemic. REL 2023-144." This study examined levels of English proficiency before and during the COVID-19 pandemic among English learner students in grades 3-12 in Texas. In 2020-2021, nearly…

Purpose: The purpose of this journal-ready dissertation was to determine the degree to which enrollment in a Title I, Part A school was related to the reading performance of Grade 4 students on the Texas state-mandated reading assessment. Specifically examined was the extent to which boys and girls enrolled in Title I, Part A schools and non-Title…

This research study investigates the impact of the rapid transition from paper-based to online administration of the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) exams on student performance in a South Texas school district. The transition, mandated by House Bill 3261, presented Texas public schools with a tight timeline for adapting…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine whether school type (Title I versus non-Title I), English learner (EL) student percentage, and low-socioeconomic status (low-SES) student percentage could statistically predict the percentage of third-grade students who perform at the Meets Grade Level (MGL) performance on the State of Texas…

Schools around the nation are increasingly offering online testing options. House Bill (HB) 3906, passed by the 86th Texas Legislature in 2019, resulted in the STAAR redesign, which will be administered in the 2022--2023 school year. The STAAR redesign includes several components including an online test administration for the STAAR. With the…

This annual report provides information for the 2021-22 school year on grade-level retention and student performance in the Texas public school system. Student retention and promotion data are reported with data on the performance of students in Grades 3-8 on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) reading and mathematics…

This annual report provides information for the 2020-21 school year on grade-level retention and student performance in the Texas public school system. Student retention and promotion data are reported with data on the performance of students in Grades 3-8 on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) reading and mathematics…

This historical critique of high-stakes testing in reading focuses on selected events from three historical movements: 1) the history of standardized testing, 2) the history of standardized reading tests, and 3) the history of high-stakes testing. These three interrelated histories have produced the high-stakes, standardized reading tests used in…

Accountability measures with increased emphasis placed on assessment for all students have led more special education students to be placed in the general education classroom. The sample included students identified with specific learning disabilities at two high schools, 4A or larger, in South Texas. ANCOVA was utilized to analyze the data. This…

House Bill (HB) 2237 (80th Legislature), Section 6: Adolescent Reading Assessment requires districts and public charter schools to administer the Texas Middle School Fluency Assessment (TMSFA) or some other state approved alternative assessment to students in grade seven who do not demonstrate reading proficiency on the grade six state reading…

The purpose of this mixed methods research is to examine teachers' perspectives on the response to intervention (RTI) framework and its implementation in Michigan and Texas schools. Both states have been leaders in literacy, increasing preservice and in-service teacher certification standards and developing similar batteries for assessing literacy…

During the 79th Texas Legislature, the bill "Advancement of College Readiness in Curriculum" was passed (THECB). As a response to this, high schools and colleges have combined forming an early college high school. The result of this union was a program that condensed the time it took to complete both the high school diploma and up to two…

This paper profiles Texas's test score trends through 2008-09. In 2005, the mean scale score on the state 4th grade reading test was 2297 for non-Title I students and 2207 for Title I students. In 2009, the mean scale score in 4th grade reading was 2334 for non-Title I students and 2235 for Title I students. Between 2005 and 2009, the mean scale…

This general achievement trends profile includes information that the Center on Education Policy (CEP) and the Human Resources Research Organization (HumRRO) obtained from states from fall 2008 through April 2009. Included herein are: (1) Bullet points summarizing key findings about achievement trends in that state at three performance…