Automatic assessment of the quality of classroom discourse can have a transformative effect on research and practice on improving teaching effectiveness. We improve on a previous automated method to measure teacher authentic questions -- open-ended questions without pre-scripted responses that predict student achievement growth -- using classroom…

This booklet presents Wisconsin's Model Academic Standards in the area of English language arts at grades 4, 8, and 12. The content and performance standards represent the best thinking of language educators and interested members of the public. They were drawn from two years of work in Wisconsin's standards development projects, from the Modern…

This document presents, in tabular form, results for the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examinations for grade 8, spring 2000 (the 1999-2000 school year). Results are presented for the state' s total eighth grade population eligible to be tested and for each school district and school in Wisconsin. Test results are reported for reading, language…

Results of the fifth year of testing by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction are presented. In 1980, objective-referenced tests in mathematics and reading were given to a sample of Wisconsin's public school students in grades 4, 8, and 12. Students were also given the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills (CTBS) in mathematics, reading,…

This study examines the relationships between student literacy performance and discussion-based approaches to the development of understanding in 64 middle and high school English classrooms. A series of hierarchical linear models indicated that discussion-based approaches were significantly related to spring performance, controlling for fall…