Purpose: The purpose of this journal-ready dissertation was to examine the extent to which differences were present in the mathematics achievement of Texas Grade 8 Emergent Bilingual students by their economic status, special education status, and ethnicity/race. The purpose of the first article was to determine the extent to which student…

Students in any grade level vary widely in their mathematics achievement, with the typical classroom including four to seven grade levels of mathematics proficiency. Due to this large range of mathematics learning needs, some schools offer certain courses in earlier grades than is typical. In this study, we analyzed multiple, large, national…

The Supreme Court has agreed to weigh in on the legality of racial preferences, in part thanks to a lawsuit against Harvard College alleging that the school discriminates against Asian-Americans. Proving discrimination at a specific school is an arduous task, requiring access to private, detailed admissions records--as the legal documents in that…

This report examines and explains the most recent achievement results for New York City and New York State students in district and charter schools, and to put New York City's achievement levels in context. The New York City public school system is the largest in the country, with more than 1 million students in grades prekindergarten through 12…

We use a quadratic equation to estimate trends in cohort performances in the charter and district sectors on the National Assessment of Educational Progress in 4th and 8th grade between 2005 and 2017. Data consist of over four million test observations of nationally representative samples of students on seven separate math and reading tests. We…

According to the TIMSS 2015 international study findings, students who enjoy learning mathematics a lot scored much higher (average 61 points) than the students who do not enjoy it a lot. Enjoying learning mathematics is one of the indicators of the construct "intrinsic motivation" towards mathematics, and this type of other constructs,…

This report examines the academic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) students, with the goal of documenting achievement trends to provide leaders and policymakers with evidence to guide action to address educational inequities for BIPOC students. Using math and reading test data from 2.1 million BIPOC…

A founding ideal of American democracy is that merit, not accident of birth, should determine individuals' income and social status. Schools have assumed a major role in judging key elements of merit among young people--namely, academic skills, hard work, self-discipline, and cooperative behavior. Schools do so mainly by evaluating students in a…

For more than 25 years, the Annie E. Casey Foundation has used the data-based advocacy of KIDS COUNT to raise the visibility of children's issues and to inform decision making at the state and local levels. Building on this work and the efforts of other groups nationwide that are using indicator analysis to contribute to positive change for…

As policymakers endeavor to address the teacher shortage as a whole, they should also consider the research around teacher diversity and explore policies that aim to increase the achievement of minority students. This issue of "coNCepts" examines the diversity gap in North Carolina and highlights the need for a strategic solution that…

Motivation is a fundamental educational challenge for adolescents in the United States, and particularly for immigrant youth. The motivation to achieve, especially in mathematics, declines during adolescence. Most of what is known about motivation is based on studies of predominately middle-class White students; yet the influx of immigrants over…

In this policy report, the Annie E. Casey Foundation explores the intersection of kids, race, and opportunity. The report features the new Race for Results index, which compares how children are progressing on key milestones across racial and ethnic groups at the national and state level. The index is based on 12 indicators that measure a child's…

This paper examines the effect of exposure to violent crime on students' standardized test performance among a sample of students in New York City public schools. To identify the effect of exposure to community violence on children's test scores, we compare students exposed to an incident of violent crime on their own blockface in the week prior…

Last year, Hispanic and African American high school graduates met ACT's College Readiness Benchmarks in English, reading, mathematics, and science at substantially lower rates than did Asian and White graduates. For example, the rate of White graduates who were college ready in English (77%) was twice that of their African American peers (35%).…

Every child deserves educational opportunity and the chance to achieve, no matter his or her school, neighborhood or background. Unfortunately, large and persistent disparities in achievement among public school students in the District of Columbia indicate that all children here may not have the same opportunities. This Data Snapshot examines…