Studied relationships among achievement, self-concept, and motivation in mathematics and language arts in a longitudinal two-wave, three-variable panel study involving three cohorts of Norwegian elementary school students (n=1,005). In all cohorts, results were consistent with a skill-development model of the achievement/self-concept relationship.…

In school year 2003-2004, state data showed that the percentage of students with limited English proficiency scoring proficient on a state's language arts and mathematics tests was lower than the state's annual progress goals in nearly two-thirds of the 48 states for which data was obtained. To help these students progress academically, state and…

The main goal of this report is to present evidence on the predictive validity of an English language arts (ELA) performance assessment (PA) administered in Grades 2-9 in a large urban school district. To account for the hierarchical structure of the data (students are nested within schools), we employed hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to…

It is widely assumed that increasing the number of teaching assistants (TAs) in the classroom will be beneficial to children, and this is one important aim of the recently implemented Workforce Agreement. But there are still significant gaps in knowledge about many aspects of their deployment and impact. The Class Size and Pupil-Adult Ratios…

This paper presents the research and methodology and analyses used for the "Gaining Ground in the Middle Grades" research. This appendix contains the following sections: (1) Overview; (2) Constructing the Survey Data File; (3) Constructing Composite Independent Variables (Subdomains); (4) Constructing Longitudinal Outcome Variables; (5)…

The Language Arts 6-12 Program of the Des Moines Independent Community School District (Iowa) is directed by its mission statement to provide a quality educational program to a diverse community of students where all are expected to learn. The Language Arts supervisor is responsible for supervising and coordinating all aspects of the middle and…

Pressed by the vise created by the "era of accountability" and evolving theory which emphasizes constructing meaning and problem solving, educators have become more articulate about defending the classroom impact of new theory. Assessment in the classroom is following contemporary descriptions of learning, thinking, and language use as…

This collection of documents describes the Chapter 1 programs of the Newark (Ohio) City Schools and presents a model for programs to increase student success. Newark is a midsized city district with 1 high school, 3 middle schools, and 12 elementary schools, 7 of which receive Chapter 1 services. Collaborative efforts include replacement classes.…

Developed as part of the Arkansas Minimum Performance Testing Program (MPT), these item specifications relate to the third grade language arts minimum performance test. There is one item specification for each instructional objective included in the MPT. Item specifications are intended to provide an overview of the general content and format of…

The successful Wisconsin Title 1 project item bank offers a valid, flexible, and efficient means of providing migrant student tests in reading and mathematics tailored to instructor curricula. The item bank system consists of nine PASCAL computer programs which maintain, search, and select from approximately 1,000 test items stored on floppy disks…

The central aspect of Connecticut's agenda for educational equity and excellence is the implementation of statewide mastery testing in mathematics and language arts. The program, designed for grades four, six, and eight, assesses the skill levels of students by measuring their performance on learning objectives they should have mastered in lower…

In reviewing recent literature on the effects of class size on instruction and the implications for English and language arts instruction, this compilation gives teachers and educators a thorough list of references. The first 10 pages of the review are devoted to a description of various earlier literature and research reviews on class size and…

Effects of sex, ethnicity and their interaction on initial status and year-long change in (1) Language Arts and Social Studies achievement; (2) attitude toward school, and (3) self-rated coping were examined. Subjects included 1657 sixth graders from 51 classes in Austin, Texas. Each class was comprised of a mixture of Anglos, Blacks, and Chicanos…

The high school minimal competency examination described in this document is part one of a three-part program that requires that all students satisfactorily complete tests in reading, language arts, and mathematics prior to receiving a high school diploma. The document outlines the test development and assessment program and describes the plan for…

The final project evaluation on "Curricular Development for Secondary Learning Disabilities" focuses on the academic achievement of 86 students who participated in seven secondary learning disabilities classes in which the curricular model developed by the project was utilized. It is noted that the purpose of the project was to provide intensive…