The purpose of this technical report is to describe the third operational administration of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessments in the 2016-2017 academic year. PARCC is a state-led consortium creating next-generation assessments that, compared to traditional K-12 assessments, more accurately…

We examined whether Grade 4, 6, and 8 children access the base form when reading morphologically complex words. We asked children to read words varying systematically in the frequency of the surface and base forms and in the transparency of the base form. At all grade levels, children were faster at reading derived words with high rather than low…

This report includes results for Austin Partners in Education (APIE) programs in 2018-2019 including math classroom coaching, GEAR UP tutoring, college readiness, and mentoring. It highlights continued academic support programs serving students in 8th grade math classroom coaching and 12th grade college readiness programs, as well as, provides…

Much hope is placed on education systems to reduce socio-economic learning gaps. However, in South Africa, uneven functioning of the school system widens learning gaps. This paper analyses education performance using ANA data. Weak calibration and inter-temporal or inter-grade comparability of ANA test scores limit their usefulness for measuring…

In 2012, the Ministry of Education, Afghanistan, engaged the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) as a partner to support the development of a national learning assessment program in Afghanistan. To achieve this goal, the Learning Assessment unit of the Ministry of Education and ACER have collaborated to design and implement the…

The impact of a professional development experience involving scientists and fourth to eighth grade teachers of science was explored. Teachers attended a summer program at a research facility where they had various experiences such as job shadowing and interviewing scientists. They also participated in authentic inquiry investigations and planned…

Background: Although McNemar Test is the most appropriate tool for analyzing pre-post differences in dichotomous items (e.g., "yes" or "no", "correct" or "incorrect", etc.), many scholars have noted the inappropriate use of Pearson's Chi-square Test by researchers, including social scientists and evaluators,…

New York mayor Bill de Blasio entered office in January 2014, promising to "take dead aim at the Tale of Two Cities … [and] put an end to economic and social inequalities that threaten to unravel the city we love." The Manhattan Institute's "Poverty and Progress in New York" series tracks the effects of Mayor de Blasio's…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of an experimental manipulation of distance between classmates on peer affiliations and classroom climate. Participants were 651 10-to-12 year-old children (48% boys) from 27 Grade 5 and Grade 6 classrooms of 23 schools, who were assigned to an experimental or a control condition. Peer…

When implementing standard setting procedures, there are two major concerns: variance between panelists and efficiency in conducting multiple rounds of judgments. With regard to the former, there is concern over the consistency of the cutoff scores made by different panelists. If the cut scores show an inordinately wide range then further rounds…

"Great Explorations in Math and Science"[R] ("GEMS"[R]) "The Real Reasons for Seasons" is a curriculum unit for grades 6-8 that focuses on the connections between the Sun and the Earth to teach students the scientific concepts behind the seasons. The unit utilizes models, hands-on investigations, peer-to-peer…

The "Inclusion of Nature in Self" scale (INS) was applied to monitor shifts in reported connectedness with nature within the framework of a school-based environmental education programme. One hundred and twenty-three German students (sixth-graders) participated in a one-day module, which included hands-on indoor (classroom) and outdoor…

The study compared the aberrance detection powers of the BW person-fit indices with other group-based indices (SCI, MCI, NCI, and Wc&Bs) and item response theory based (IRT-based) indices (OUTFITz, INFITz, ECI2z, ECI4z, and lz). Four kinds of comparative conditions, including content category (CC), types of aberrance (AT), severity of…

"Houghton Mifflin Reading"© is a reading program designed for grades K-6. The program provides step-by-step instruction in reading using Big Books (fiction and nonfiction literature), anthologies, Read Aloud books, and audio compact discs. The product is designed to be used as a full-year curriculum program with instruction on developing…

The use of high-stakes assessment to measure students' mathematical performance has become commonplace in schools all over the world. Such assessment instruments provide national or international comparisons of student (and potentially teacher performance). Each form of assessment is specialised in nature and is characteristic of the culture and…