Education is often depicted as one of the best ways out of poverty. At the same time, research over many decades finds that most educational outcomes are strongly correlated to poverty. It is not likely that these two themes are true at the same time. Either schools are windows of opportunity and help overcome or mitigate poverty and other…

During the Great Recession, national public school per-pupil spend-ing fell by roughly 7 percent and persisted beyond the recovery. The impact of such large and sustained education funding cuts is not well understood. To examine this, first, we document that the recessionary drop in spending coincided with the end of decades-long national growth…

In this study, the equated score results of the kernel equating (KE) method compared with the results of traditional equating methods--equipercentile and linear equating and 9th grade 2009 ÖBBS Form B of Social Sciences and 2009 ÖBBS Form D of Social Sciences was used under an equivalent groups (EG) design. Study sample consists of 16.249 students…

According to international studies of achievement in mathematics amongst Australian secondary school students, results have declined over time when compared with other countries. The National Assessment Program -- Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is an Australian government initiative to measure whether students have the knowledge, understanding,…

Although the number of countries conducting large-scale assessments has significantly increased over the past two decades, this has not necessarily led to the effective use of learning assessment data in policymaking and planning. To better understand the reasons for this, the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP)…

The efficiency-equity trade-offs in public service delivery may be influenced by the dependency of local governments on their own resources rather than inter-governmental grants. School districts in the United States are expected both to produce human capital efficiently and to provide educational opportunity equally. To ascertain school district…

Parental use of private literacy tutoring has been one of the most controversial of the 'unintended outcomes' of the introduction of the National Assessment Program--Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), Australia's national regimen of literacy testing. Other uses of tutoring--whether NAPLAN-related or not--have attracted less public and research…

Critical thinking is brought to the fore as a central competence in today's society and in school curricula, but what may be emphasised as a general skill may also differ across school subjects. Using a mixed methods approach we identify general formulations regarding critical thinking in the Swedish curriculum of school year nine and seven more…

Ofqual has contracted the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) to develop, administer and analyse the National Reference Test (NRT) in English and maths. This report represents an overview of the findings of the 2019 testing process. In February/March 2019 a random sample of around 13,000 year 11 students from over 300 schools took…

This article provides three major contributions to the literature: we provide granular information on the development of student argumentative writing across secondary school; we replicate the MacArthur et al. model of Natural Language Processing (NLP) writing features that predict quality with a younger group of students; and we are able to…

The purpose of this study was to examine the demographic characteristics and music achievement of eighth-grade students in the United States using evidence from the 2016 National Assessment of Educational Progress in the Arts (NAEP). Analyzing NAEP data from a nationally representative sample of 4,340 eighth graders attending public and private…

While substantial research has shown the relationship between earlier mathematics coursetaking and later mathematics achievement, recent research suggests that mathematics motivation is an important predictor of grade 12 mathematics achievement as well. The current study extends this research by examining the role of mathematics identity at grade…

This longitudinal case study examines reading difficulties identified in Grade 2 and Grade 6 national assessment test (NAT) scores in relation to Grade 9 NAT in Swedish (L1) and English (L2). A norm-referenced screening was used in Grade 2 to assess word reading and reading comprehension. In line with the simple view of reading, four subgroups…

The learning of algebra represents a difficulty within the mathematics learning process. Precisely because of their epistemological and ontological nature, semiotics provides a good key to understanding the main difficulties that hinder the learning of algebraic objects. The answers to a large scale assessments task that requires a treatment in…

The American media has historically favored conservative critiques when reporting about national history exam results. Utilizing the frameworks of critical media studies and collective memory, this mixed methods study analyzes the media responses to the 2014 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) United States history exam. Findings…