Reading and writing difficulties are markers for some forms of learning disorders, and measuring the distance between the child's performance and an expected level of attainment is a common approach to diagnosis. However, there are several problems with relying on the gap between achievement and expectation for arriving at a diagnosis, not least…

PIRLS is an international assessment of reading comprehension at the fourth grade that has been conducted every five years since 2001. In 2011, nationally representative samples of students in 49 countries participated in PIRLS and prePIRLS. Forty-five countries assessed fourth grade students, and some countries participated in one or more of the…

For more than 50 years, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) has been conducting comparative studies of educational achievement in a number of curriculum areas, including mathematics and science. TIMSS 2011 represents the fifth cycle of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS),…

The Third International Math and Science Study (TIMSS) provides an opportunity to benchmark student achievement against world class standards and to examine the influences of curriculum, textbooks, and educational systems on student achievement. Findings indicate that U.S. students at the fourth grade above the international average in both math…

A study of one grade cohort of students taught in a Chicago Mastery Learning Reading (CMLR) Program was extended to two additional cohorts, one older and one younger than the original group but who were taught using the same method. The students' reading comprehension test scores were compared with those of students in other schools, not taught by…