Grade-level retention is a common educational practice with the goal of improving academic performance, but the evidence of its influence is mixed. This study examines the academic effect of repeating kindergarten, first grade, second grade, or third grade on English Language Arts performance at the end of fourth grade. This study also examines…

This study was conducted to explore US elementary teachers' perceptions of their experiences using rubrics as a tool for student self-assessment and metacognition (assessment for learning) to improve elementary students' achievement and their instructional decision-making at a private American elementary school in South Florida. The constructivist…

As state school-based accountability systems have become more complex and increasingly comprehensive, school district leaders have struggled with the balance of managing limited school district funding while focusing on improving student academic achievement as quantified by state-mandated testing results. The amount of a school district's…

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, schools are required to provide a free appropriate public education to students with disabilities and show that the students are making academic progress. This study compares within- and across-years academic growth from kindergarten to 4th grade for students who were ever in special education…

This research study explored the relationship that exists between National Board certified teachers (NBCTs) and the reading achievement of students in third through fifth grade in comparison to non-NBCTs as measured by EVAAS growth data. Additional research questions analyzed which elements contained in the five core propositions participants…

Developing fluency in arithmetic facts is instrumental to mathematics learning. This study compares the effects of two practice conditions on children's fluency in simple multiplication facts. Third and fourth graders in the Netherlands (N = 282) practised in either a conventional "recall" condition where they produced answers to…

The Instructional Conversation (IC) is a complete classroom pedagogy that focuses on teaching through small-group dialogue with students allowing responsive instruction for each student. The IC is anchored by cognitive-developmental theory and by four decades of multi-method quasi-experimental studies. This study describes the first research of an…

In this paper, we present a closer look at the student achievement trends in the District of Columbia between 2006-07 and 2012-13. We have three main conclusions. First, we find that overall, math scores in the District have improved. The improvements in reading scores during this time frame, however, were primarily limited to the first year after…

This mixed-methods case study focuses on the third through fifth grade classrooms at a public elementary school in a Midwestern urban school district where the Northwest Evaluation Association's (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment is being implemented. According to the school district, the goals of these tests are: to show…

We use a regression discontinuity strategy to produce causal estimates for the effect of remediation under Florida's test-based promotion policy on multiple outcomes for up to five years after the intervention. Students subjected to the policy were retained in the third grade, were required to be assigned to a high-quality teacher during the…

Most growth models implicitly assume that test scores have been vertically scaled. What may not be widely appreciated are the different choices that must be made when creating a vertical score scale. In this paper empirical patterns of growth in student achievement are compared as a function of different approaches to creating a vertical scale.…

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation and public pressure to prepare students for the twenty-first century has put increasing demands on schools to improve student performance. This action research study examined the efforts of an elementary school principal and her third and fourth grade teachers to improve students' performance in math. The…

With decreasing enrollment, decreasing funding for public school education, changes in family and societal needs, and the mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act, policymakers and school leaders are wrestling with reforms to the school calendar and instructional time spent in the classroom, with the goal of increasing student achievement.…

A classroom procedure included error imitation and correction and repeated practice to mastery within regular third-grade spelling instruction. Pretesting and posttesting compared corrected-test procedures with standard practice and practice with fewer words. Significantly higher test scores and teacher ratings documented the effectiveness of the…

Research related to the implementation and impact of the efficacy process on teachers and students in four Sacramento (California) City Unified School District pilot schools over a 4-year period is described. The study investigated three research evaluation questions: (1) the extent of teachers' implementation of the efficacy process; (2) the…