This study compared the number of discipline referrals in a Middle Tennessee elementary school for two years, during the implementation of School-Wide Positive Behavior Intervention Supports (SWPBIS). This study also examined the relationship between the number of discipline referrals and academic achievement by comparing TCAP scale scores in both…

This research study was conducted to examine the effects of the Kindergarten Readiness program in a large suburban school district in Tennessee as measured by third grade Reading and Mathematics TCAP Achievement Test scores. In addition, the study examined the relationships between the chronological ages of the students at kindergarten entry and…

This study examined the effect of middle school student mobility on standardized test achievement in mathematics and reading. The variables of gender and poverty were also examined in the context of their relationship to a student's mobility. The data set consisted of the mathematics and reading scores of 9,083 middle school students in a large…

Early childhood education and school readiness is essential to preparing children to succeed in an increasingly competitive global economy. Compared to other countries, however, the United States lags far behind on preschool, trailing a number of other countries in enrollment, investment, and quality. In February 2013, however, President Barack…

Created by the U.S. Congress in 2006, the Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) represents the first federal initiative targeted directly at state and district efforts to introduce performance measures into educator compensation. TIF responds to a growing body of evidence that existing pay structures do not respond to labor force realities or adequately…

With increased pressures on school districts to enhance student achievement, administrators are implementing professional learning communities (PLCs) as one method to improve student performance (DuFour & Eaker, 1998, Hord, 1997, Thompson, Gregg, & Niska, 2004). Educators working within a PLC experience a shared ideology, supportive…

This report presents the deliberations of the Appalachia Regional Advisory Committee (Appalachia RAC), one of 10 RACs established under the Educational Technical Assistance Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. sections 9601 et. seq.) to assess the educational needs of the region. The Committee's report outlines the educational needs across the four states of…

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…

"Leading indicators"--indicators that provide early signals of progress toward academic achievement--enable education leaders, especially at the central office level in a school district, to make more strategic and less reactive decisions about services and supports to improve student learning. These indicators are a way of viewing and…

This paper profiles Tennessee's test score trends through 2008-09. In 2004, the mean scale score on the state 4th grade reading test was 501 for non-Title I students and 486 for Title I students. In 2009, the mean scale score in 4th grade reading was 512 for non-Title I students and 495 for Title I students. Between 2004 and 2009, the mean scale…

Examines value-added student achievement levels of 74 school districts named as litigants in "Tennessee v. Small School Systems v. McWherter" and compares them with those of 64 nonlitigating districts. Although litigant districts have achieved greater fiscal equity, student achievement has not significantly improved. (Contains 11…

In the present study, 49 fifth-graders enrolled the KIPP D.I.A.M.O.N.D. Academy in the 2002-03 school year were individually matched to control student from five feeder schools on the basis of ethnicity, free-reduced lunch status, and fourth-grade achievement on the Reading and Mathematics subtests of the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment…