This study examined the effect of small class size intervention on student outcomes using reading achievement scores as measured by the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS), a standardized, norm-referenced test, while controlling for independent variables inclusive of students' gender, race, socioeconomic status (SES), and environment. This…

Vertical scales are widely used in educational assessment as a basis for considering grade-to-grade changes in student performance. Typically, the underlying construct is assumed to be essentially unidimensional; however, if there is a change in the measured construct across grades, this assumption may be untenable. Developing a multidimensional…

This report includes a high-level overview of student outcome data and how Kansas measures up to the other 49 states. It is meant to complement the other reporting that the Kansas Association of School Boards has released and will be releasing related to improving student outcomes for all Kansas public schools. The following are key findings…

This yearlong ethnographic case study investigated higher and lower track adolescents' experiences with core content-area (social studies, science, and math) writing in one urban working-class district. Teacher, student, and administrator interviews; field notes; and students' written work comprised the data set. The findings from this…

The No Child Left Behind federal mandate to improve student achievement in reading and math resulted in several initiatives related to educational leadership. However, these initiatives have yet to improve student achievement. Therefore, the research question focused on how school leaders used Senge's five disciplines of a learning…

Far too often, school leaders fail to consider how technology might dramatically improve teaching and learning, and schools frequently acquire digital devices without discrete learning goals and ultimately use these devices in ways that fail to adequately serve students, schools, or taxpayers. Because of a growing debate concerning spending on…

The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent digital portfolios would affect mathematics achievement, attitudes, and self-perceptions of themselves as mathematics learners of sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students. The study analyzed the effect of digital portfolios on the students' performance on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.…

This article reports the results of a study examining the utility of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) in algebra for predicting performance on a state math assessment and informing instructional placement decisions for students in seventh, eighth, and tenth grades. Students completed six Basic Skills algebra probes across different time…

This study, conducted during the 2006/07 academic year, describes how four midsize urban school districts in the Northeast and Islands Region--Worcester, Massachusetts; Nashua, New Hampshire; Yonkers, New York; and Providence, Rhode Island--were providing foundation skills assessments and programs to struggling middle-grade readers. Researchers…

In this study, Ridgway et al. found mixed results, depending on the assessment test used. With the Balanced Assessment (BA) test, positive significant differences were found between the Connected Mathematics Project (CMP) students and non-CMP students in grades 6, 7, and 8. The results for the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) were less favorable…