This report describes comparative evaluations of the Distar I (first grade) and Distar II (second grade) programs which were carried out in 1972-1973. Results showed: (1) the Distar program for first grades had no conclusive advantage over traditional instruction for the development of oral language or reading achievement; and (2) second grade…

The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) conducted a six-subject survey to examine achievement in 23 nations with 15 different languages of instruction. The technique used was cross-sectional, with sampling at three different educational levels. In addition to achievement testing in science, reading…

Correlations of home and school environment variables with the educational performance of 392 seven- and ten-year-old students in Northern Ireland were studied in 1970. Home influences of parent behavior, home literacy, and educational ambition were more important predictors of intelligence and reading/math attainment than were school and…

This report presents the results of the 2002 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading assessment for the nation and for the participating states and jurisdictions. Comparisons are made to students' performance in the national assessments of 1992, 1994, and 1998 at grades 4, 8, and 12. Comparison data are given within and across…

This report highlights the results of the 2002 NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) fourth-, eighth-, and twelfth-grade reading assessment for the nation. Results in 2002 are compared to previous NAEP reading assessments. It describes assessment content; presents major findings as average scale scores and percentages of students…

A study examined how two international studies--the 1991 International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) Reading Literacy Study and the 2001 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS, also conducted by IEA)--compared to each other in the aspects of reading literacy each assessed, the types of texts they…

This study examined the hypothesis that children who had participated in a full-day kindergarten program would not show a significantly higher academic achievement in first grade as measured by the standardized portfolio assessment than children who participated in a half-day program. The study compared four portfolio assessment scores of two…

Data from the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) 1998 Reading Report Card show increased scores for low-performing students in the 4th and 8th grades in 1998 as compared to 1994, but no change at the 12th grade. Scores for low-performing students in the 8th grade were higher in 1998 than in either 1994 or 1992. Scores for…

The Jump Start program is a preschool program serving about 4,000 four-year-olds in a partnership including Head Start, Even Start, a tuition-based program, and the Kentucky preschool program mandated by the Kentucky Educational Reform Act (KERA). This study compared the family of Jump Start programs and a comparison group on student academic…

Contrasted effects of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) program to those of Chapter 1 programs on fourth and fifth graders' reading achievement, self-concept, and higher-order thinking skills. Found that HOTS is more effective in raising self-concept and some higher-order thinking skills in fifth grade and after two years of treatment, with…

Basics skills achievement of students of 48 elementary school teachers who received in-service training in the Program for Effective Teaching was compared longitudinally to the achievement of students of 34 teachers who had not received such training. No differences in achievement between the groups of students were found. (BB)

Natural experiments explored the effects of attending public Philadelphia K-to-8 schools or public middle schools on eighth- and ninth-grade achievement. Found that students attending K-8 schools had higher reading, mathematics, and science achievement than students attending middle schools serving similar communities. Suggested that number of…

Using authentic materials, this study compared the oral reading miscues of 20 university students with reading related learning disabilities to 20 controls matched for age, gender, ethnicity, college GPA, reading achievement score, and college of major. All participants orally read two passages with different text structures from a college…

This study examines the role of curriculum as a vocabulary learning environment by comparing teacher's Large Group Time instruction in two curricula--Creative Curriculum (Dodge, Colker, & Heroman, 2000) and the Doors to Discovery program (2002). Discourse samples were retrieved from the video data of the Large Group Time activity in five Head…

This study outlines a formative assessment system using a consistent set of cut scores on Curriculum-Based Measurement-Reading (CBM-R) probes and investigates four statistical methods for establishing cut scores. Cut scores were established using the Minnesota statewide achievement test in reading at grade 3 as the criterion for a successful…