This research examined if or to what extent there was a relationship between maternal home-based involvement, based on the Family Involvement Questionnaire-Elementary from a mother's perspective, and fifth and sixth-grade students' reading and mathematical achievement scores as measured by STAR reading and math in the state of California. The…

This study estimates the causal impact of 8th grade English learner (EL) reclassification on high school English language arts (ELA) standardized test scores, SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) reading, and on-track to graduate status. I apply a regression discontinuity design to rich administrative data from a large district in California. The…

The number of students opting out of standardized tests has grown in recent years. This phenomenon poses a potential threat to our ability to accurately measure student achievement in schools and districts. This brief documents the extent to which opting out is observed in the CORE districts and models how higher opt-out levels could affect…

This update to "SAT Wars" provides new evidence in the case against standardized college entry tests, including the experiences of test-optional colleges. "The Scandal of Standardized Tests" sheds significant light on key problems such as: (1) Are the tests stronger proxies for race and family income today than they were 20…

Purpose: The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine what correlation exists between a student's poverty coefficient and the daily number of minutes provided for independent reading and third grade reading achievement level as measured by California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) in small, rural school…

Previous research has shown that adolescent peer groups play a role in maintaining and exacerbating demographic differences in achievement. However, there is still limited knowledge about the malleable factors that contribute to these achievement disparities. This short-term longitudinal study examined one such malleable factor--namely, perceived…

America spends $115,000 per-pupil on education, one of the highest in the world. Even with high funding being provided for the educational budget, standardized state assessment scores are not reflecting the aim for higher quality of education that NCLB is trying to accomplish. Teachers use an assortment of assessments to gauge student's mastery…

The academic achievement, bilingual proficiency, and sociocultural competence of exiting middle school students was analyzed to provide dual-language program stakeholders with evaluative information for local control funding and accountability planning. Informed by equity as a guiding principle of additive bilingualism, researchers used…

We analyze how fatal shootings in high schools affect schools and students using data from shooting databases, school report cards, and the Common Core of Data. We examine schools' test scores, enrollment, number of teachers, graduation, attendance, and suspension rates at schools that experienced a shooting, employing a difference-in-differences…

This brief summarizes the practices of successful, instructionally engaged leaders and the ways districts develop these leaders. These practices are drawn from "positive outlier" districts in California that have excelled at helping African American, Latino/a, and White students achieve at high levels on assessments of academic standards…

Despite wide achievement gaps across California between students from different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds, some school districts have excelled at supporting the learning of all their students. This analysis identifies these positive outlier districts--those in which students of color, as well as White students, consistently achieve at…

The explosion of knowledge and the growing complexity of modern life are changing expectations for what young people need to learn and be able to do. Success in the 21st century does not depend solely on what people know, but also on what they can do with what they know. In this report, the authors summarize the results of a quantitative analysis…

Existing research on self-management skills shows that measures of self-management predict student success. However, these conclusions are based on small samples or narrowly defined self-management measures. Using a rich longitudinal dataset of 221,840 fourth through seventh grade students, this paper describes self-management gaps across student…

The purposes of this mixed method study were to examine the relationship between student motivation and performance on large-scale, low- and high-stakes examinations and identify the types of incentive programs used by principals to promote test performance among high school students. The study took take place in California's Southern San Joaquin…

This brief summarizes successful strategies for creating a strong and stable teaching force. These strategies are drawn from "positive outlier" districts in California that have excelled at helping African American, Latino/a, and White students achieve at high levels on assessments of academic standards in English language arts and…