The ACT is a national college admissions examination. ACT, Inc. provides an annual summary of student performance at the end of each academic year. Results from the 2010 annual summary are described in this brief report.

This article describes a practical, sure-fire way for media specialists to boost student achievement. The method is called data-driven collaboration, and it's a practical, easy-to-use technique in which media specialists and teachers work together to pinpoint kids' instructional needs and improve their essential skills. The author discusses the…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) focuses on accountability for student achievement by mandating higher educational standards that are monitored through required annual student testing. The Complementary Assistance Learning Program (CALP), a before and after school tutoring and mentoring service, offers a potential means of accelerating the…

The purpose of this article is to provide a detailed example of effective professional development for teachers that resulted in positive changes to the effectiveness of the school's reading program. This study describes the results of an intervention school-wide program that was conducted in a large urban school with a majority of minority…

Robert Coe has claimed that three broad conceptions of comparability can be identified from the literature: performance, statistical and conventional. Each of these he rejected, in favour of a single, integrated conception which relies upon the notion of a "linking construct" and which he termed "construct comparability".…

This article discusses Michelle Rhee's style of leadership--as steely as the sound of her peekaboo high heels on a linoleum-tile hallway--which has angered much of Washington, D.C., and baffled the rest since she arrived as schools chancellor in June 2007. But it is also helping her gain control of a school system that has defied management for…

Since 1959, ACT has collected and reported data on students' academic readiness for college. This report provides a college and career readiness snapshot of the ACT-tested high school class of 2011. ACT has long defined college and career readiness as the acquisition of the knowledge and skills a student needs to enroll and succeed in…

Skilled teachers who assess students using high quality, relevant and timely assessments can use the results to modify, refine and individualize instruction. Student assessments should be a reflection of what is taught in the classroom. As more accountability provisions have been implemented at the national, state and district levels, the focus on…

In January of 2002, President George W. Bush signed into law the "No Child Left Behind Act" of 2001 (NCLB). NCLB, which passed through Congress with overwhelming support from both Republican and Democratic members, was predicated on four basic objectives to address pervasive problems within America's public schools: (1) school…

Science education is not just about learning facts in a classroom--it's about doing activities where students put their understanding of science principles into action. That's why two unique types of activity-based tasks were administered as part of the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) science assessment. In addition to the…

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to examine differences in academic achievement among students who were Hispanic, Limited English Proficient (LEP), or White, using archival data from the Texas Education Agency's (TEA) Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS). Data examined were fifth grade reading and math passing rates from the 1993…

This study examines the distribution, change, and impact of the Index of Teacher Academic Capital (ITAC) in all Illinois public schools from 2001 to 2006. The ITAC is a school-level composite of five measures: teacher ACT Composite and English scores, teacher Basic Skills Test results, teacher certification status, and teacher undergraduate…

The charter school movement focuses on the creation of public schools governed by a legally-binding agreement known as a charter. Charter schools are touted as allowing for innovation and creativity in exchange for increased accountability. The state of Wisconsin allows its school districts to authorize the formation charter schools. School…

Since 2003, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has compared each state's standard for proficient performance in reading and mathematics by placing the state standards onto the NAEP scale. The procedure, "mapping," allows the level of achievement required for proficient performance in one state to be compared with the…

Teachers' perceptions of their school leaders influence student achievement in their schools. The extent of this influence is examined in this study. This quantitative study examined teachers' perceptions of the leadership style of their principals as transformational, transactional or passive-avoidant in improving and non-improving schools in…