This paper describes a limited longitudinal study of young children's early numeracy development within three testing cycles, at the mid-point and towards the end of their reception year (at five years-of-age) and again at the mid-point of Year 1 (at six years-of-age), located within the broader context of progress through to Key Stage 1 SAT…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) "Saving Futures, Saving Dollars": Five Percent Increase in Male Graduation Rate Could Lead to Savings of $8…

The Catholic Education Office of Sydney, Australia, has completed the first year of a 3-year literacy initiative which included an early literacy strand providing professional development for all kindergarten, Year One, and Year Two teachers, with a particular focus on the needs of beginning readers and writers. This paper outlines the planning,…

This report gives the results of the Primary Assessment Program (PAP) in Aboriginal schools (Australia) for the 1987 school year. The purpose of PAP is to provide instructional feedback on student achievement in reading and mathematics and to provide indicators of performance for public reporting. All Aboriginal schools which had students in grade…

A preliminary study of job-related communications skills in British Columbia sawmills investigated the extent of agreement between reading grade levels of written workplace materials and reading comprehension levels of employees expected to read them. In 1990, 227 employees in 8 sawmills were interviewed with a 52-item structured interview, a…

The Perach Tutorial Project, in which university students tutor Israeli children from socially disadvantaged areas in mathematics and reading, was originally designed for pupils in grades 5-8. This study investigated its use with children in grades 3, 4, 6, and 7 tutored for the regular one-year period or for two years. At each grade level, 11…

Most of the criticism of Australian schools focuses on students' skills in literacy and numeracy. This study assessed levels of student achievement in Victoria's primary and secondary schools in 1988 in some key areas of literacy and numeracy. This report maps the performances of students in Years 5 and 9 on scales of development in mathematics,…

The results of the May 1984 British Columbia Reading Assessment were presented in this summary report. Highlights of the survey, summary tables of important results, and conclusions and recommendations made by the Contract Team were outlined. The students in grades four, seven, and ten completed achievement surveys and attitude scales. Five…

Noting that parents have considerable influence on their children's learning during the process of general socialization, this paper reviews literature from primary and post primary schools about involving parents with their children's reading development. Following an introduction which summarizes the pertinent literature, the first section…

To draw the attention of teachers to the many kinds of bias that can be found in print, the 10 chapters of this monograph review a number of studies of ways in which biased texts may affect children's attainments as well as their attitudes. The chapters that comprise Parts One and Two center on the more specific issues that relate to the influence…

This study examined the impact of a 5-year school family partnership project in Israel with the goals of improving children's reading and writing achievement and forming a parents task force to create community-wide involvement and change. Participating in this study were 510 parents of the first graders enrolled in 21 classrooms in 7 Jewish…

Researchers, parents, and teachers have suggested that the home environment is a likely source of experiences that can enhance the development of oral language and early literacy skills. This longitudinal study examined relations among home literacy factors, subsequent language and early literacy skills, and reading acquisition. Assessments…

Introduction of the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) into all English schools means that even teachers in small schools with mixed-age classes undertake a large amount of whole-class literacy teaching. The NLS promotes the use of specific teaching strategies during a carefully structured hour-long literacy session. Also, the framework of…

Description of the "Writing to Read" (WTR) program highlights an evaluation of the WTR experience with first graders at two British Columbia schools. Treatments for experimental and control groups are described and measures used for the comparisons are explained, including reading readiness, reading achievement, and writing achievement.…

The 2009 edition of the "Digest of Education Statistics" is the 45th in a series of publications initiated in 1962. The "Digest" has been issued annually except for combined editions for the years 1977-78, 1983-84, and 1985-86. Its primary purpose is to provide a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field…