This study investigates the potential of enhancing students' learning of difficult science concepts by exploring the interaction between teachers' four different instructional approaches and students' four different learning preference styles. Students' immediate performance and their retention for learning of buoyancy concepts serve to examine…

Having students express their understanding of difficult, new material in their own words is an effective method to deepen their comprehension and learning. Summary Street[R] is a computer tutor that offers a supportive context for students to practice this activity by means of summary writing, guiding them through successive cycles of revising…

States' policy approaches to accountability tend to divide between a primary emphasis on input guarantees and a primary emphasis on performance guarantees. In the midst of keen controversies about the impact of high-stakes testing under the No Child Left Behind Act, this article examines separate and joint effects of input-guarantee versus…

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 results of the 1977 and 1979 Statewide Assessment Tests in Alaska are presented. This assessment testing is part of the testing component within the Alaska Statewide Instructional Support System (SISS), and is based on specific objectives critical to a student's academic success. Objectives covered are: mathematics computation, mathematics…

This survey of the standardized testing program summarizes the data accumulated from the most recent administration of selected instruments in October 1973. It compares these findings with information from previous years and points to a few trends and possible conclusions. Assessment of mental abilities--1973-74 is presented for grade 1, and…

The main purpose of this study was to illustrate a polytomous IRT-based linking procedure that adjusts for rater variations. Test scores from two administrations of a statewide reading assessment were used. An anchor set of Year 1 students' constructed responses were rescored by Year 2 raters. To adjust for year-to-year rater variation in IRT…

Researchers gave low ratings to 73% of fourth-graders' informative writing samples on NAEP's 1992 Writing Portfolio Study. Teachers blame changing demographics, science and math emphases, the self-esteem movement, standardized tests, and fast-paced lifestyles. Administrators must encourage student writing, support teachers, schedule more language…

Kentucky's goal of reaching academic "proficiency" by 2014 illuminated 2002 reading test scores: 44.30% of middle and 71.25% of high school students scored below "proficient." The research question was, "Do teaching practices in schools with high reading achievement scores differ from teaching practices in schools with low…

This report presents trial school-district-level results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) mathematics 2003, 2005, and 2007 assessments at grades 4 and 8 for 10 urban public-school districts: Atlanta City School District; Austin Independent School District (ISD); Boston School District; Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools; City…

The Nation's Report Card[TM] informs the public about the academic achievement of elementary and secondary students in the United States. Report cards communicate the findings of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a continuing and nationally representative measure of achievement in various subjects over time. The results from…

This appendix accompanies "Gaining Ground in the Middle Grades: Why Some Schools Do Better. A Large-Scale Study of Middle Grades Practices and Student Outcomes. Initial Research Report." This appendix focuses on the findings and domain comparisons of the study. This appendix contains the following: (1) Decision Rules; (2) Full Set of…

Gender gaps in educational outcomes are a matter of real and growing concern. It has been known for a long time, since the 1970s, that girls outscore boys in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading tests, while boys tend to outperform girls in math and science. Boys are increasingly less likely than girls to attend college…

Data from the 1990 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS) are analyzed for eighth graders to distinguish the characteristics of low-achieving groups and the independent predictors of low test scores. Results provide a basis for evaluating the adequacy of the NAEP for these…

This study investigated three factors that may contribute to the large variation in student performance across open-ended measures. These factors are content domain, format (whether the task required only pencil and paper or involved a hands-on manipulation of equipment), and level of inquiry (whether the task guided the student toward the…