This study used a propensity score approach to estimate treatment effects in a multilevel setting. The propensity score approach involves the estimation of propensity scores for covariate balancing and the estimation of treatment effects. This study aimed at understanding how propensity scores estimated through a simple logistic regression compare…

Research has established a strong relationship between silent reading comprehension and prosodic reading fluency among young readers, but much remains unknown about this relationship among older readers (Breen, Kaswer, Van Dyke, Krivokapic, & Landi, 2016; Cypert & Petro, 2019). The goal of this study was to determine the impact of prosodic…

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…

Balanced literacy has been proposed as a compromise or middle ground between philosophical approaches to reading instruction that stress teaching of word recognition and those that stress construction of meaning. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the READ 180 balanced literacy supplementary instruction program on…

Recently, electronic books (e-books) have become prevalent amongst the general population, as well as students, owing to their advantages over traditional books. In South Africa, a number of schools have integrated tablets into the classroom with the promise of replacing traditional books. In order to realise the potential of e-books and their…

The main focus of this study was to investigate if, or to what extent, there is a significant relationship between high school science course sequencing and proficiency on 11th grade Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) Science. The Florida Legislature mandated a specific number of sciences as a requirement for graduation. High schools…

Previous research has demonstrated a correlation between student demographic factors and standardized test scores in Florida. The researcher examined the impact teacher beliefs and instructional practices had on students' performance on Florida Comprehensive Reading Assessment Test in 10th grade. Teachers at four schools with a majority of at-risk…

This Annual Measurable Objective (AMO) is designed to keep Florida moving forward toward national and international competitiveness. Florida will compare its National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores to those of the top five states and its Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), Progress in International…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the score differences on the Texas Academic Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) Reading and Mathematics measures among students in Grades 10 and 11 as a function of music enrollment. Specifically, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and enrollment in choir, band, or orchestra or no music enrollment…

The purpose of the quantitative research study was to determine if participation in the Health Sciences and Technology Academy (HSTA) led to significant differences in the math and reading/language arts scores on the West Virginia Educational Standards Test 2 (WESTEST 2), between students who participated in the program compared to students who…

This study explored the relationships among the components of the Arizona Department of Education's new teacher evaluation model, with a particular focus on the extent to which ratings from the state model's teacher observation instrument differentiated higher and lower performance. The study used teacher-level evaluation data collected by the…

Several studies provide preliminary evidence that computer use is positively related to academic performance; however, no clear relationship has yet been established. Using a national database, we analyzed how students' school behavior (i.e., evaluated by English and math teachers) and standardized test scores (e.g., math and reading) are related…

This Research Brief presents a method for predicting 10th grade Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) success from 6th grade FCAT performance. A simple equation provides the most probable single score prediction, and give-or-take error margins define high and low probability zones for expected 10th grade scores. In addition, a double-entry…

The explicit teaching of reading comprehension strategies has been proposed as a means to better prepare secondary school-aged students for today's information-dense, fast-paced, fast-changing global society, and to improve the academic performance of struggling adolescent readers. This proposition of a direct and positive impact of reading…

Reading comprehension tests usually contain reading passages followed by multiple choice questions about the passages; but one potential weakness of this format is that the questions may be "passage independent," answerable without necessarily reading the passage first. When examining this phenomenon by assessing a particular test, the…