The purpose of this study was to analyze student achievement growth and motivational goal orientations in a standards-based reporting environment in a rural SC school district. More specifically, this study sought to determine if student achievement growth is related to the number of years students received standards-based reports in middle…

Recent educational reforms have promoted accountability systems which attempt to identify "teacher effects" on student outcomes and hold teachers accountable for producing learning gains. But in the complex world of classrooms, it may be difficult to attribute "success" or "failure" to teachers. In this timely…

As the deadline set forth by No Child Left Behind approaches, it is clear that the goal of proficiency in English language arts and mathematics for all students by 2014 will not be met. As a result, the U.S. Department of Education has offered states the option of applying for flexibility on parts of the law. This policy brief outlines those…

Every assessment is a literacy test. It matters not whether the content is science, social studies, or mathematics; if students are not able to make sense of the words, their ability to decipher the meaning of the assessment questions is suspect. Comprehending the language of a task becomes even more important as educators strive to move the…

High school dropout, enrollment, and graduation rates are important indicators of students' college and career readiness, which in turn significantly impact both individual income levels and the overall knowledge-driven economy. Despite the long-term benefits of a high school education, much of the current literature on raising school…

The purpose of this study was to research the effects of online discussion on face-to-face (F2F) classroom participation and academic achievement for 18 public high school students in a senior English class. The teacher used a variety of data collection including surveys, test scores, journal reflections, and teacher observations to study the…

This study examined the impact that a year-round school calendar and a traditional school calendar may have on student achievement at selected elementary schools in North Central South Carolina. Specifically it investigated mean differences in academic achievement between elementary students at two year-round schools versus two traditional…

This study develops and documents a new methodology that uses the Lexile Framework[R] for Reading to determine the proportion of grade 11 Texas public school students whose scores on the exit-level Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills for English language arts and reading (TAKS-ELAR) or the TAKS-ELAR Accommodated indicate the ability to read…

This study develops and documents a new methodology that uses the Lexile Framework[R] for Reading to determine the proportion of grade 11 Texas public school students whose scores on the exit-level Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills for English language arts and reading (TAKS-ELAR) or the TAKS-ELAR Accommodated indicate the ability to read…

The re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 2002, commonly known as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), increased the accountability of public schools throughout the United States, holding them individually responsible for the education levels attained by their students as measured by high stakes tests developed and…

With funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, CRESST conducted a multi-year evaluation of a major school reform project at Alain Leroy Locke High School, historically one of California's lowest performing secondary schools. Beginning in 2007, Locke High School transitioned into a set of smaller, Green Dot Charter High Schools,…

Student goal setting and academic planning has been a major focus for PUSD, with the aim of increasing the level of student engagement and student ownership over their learning. Goal setting has been implemented in conjunction with the Northwest Evaluation Association's Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) tests, which provide educators with a tool…

Since 1959, ACT has collected and reported data on students' academic readiness for college. This annual report focuses on the progress of the graduating class of 2014 relative to college readiness on a national level. In 2014, 57% of the graduating class took the ACT® college readiness assessment. The increased number of test takers over the past…

This technical report provides an overview of the New York State Alternate Assessment (NYSAA), including a description of the purpose of the NYSAA, the processes utilized to develop and implement the NYSAA program, and Stakeholder involvement in those processes. The purpose of this report is to document the technical aspects of the 2013-14 NYSAA.…

Schools are complex institutions in which change occurs almost constantly. As each new piece of information is learned, the learner is changed, never to return to the same state they were prior to the act of learning, (Morrison, 2002). This study investigates the impact of interdisciplinary lesson study on teachers' instructional decisions and…