This study examined both student and school predictors of science achievement as measured by a high-stakes state test. The study involved 23,854 fifth-grade students from 198 elementary schools in a large urban school district with a diverse student population. Multilevel modeling was conducted to examine both student and school predictors…

This study explored the interplay between quality facilities and school climate, charting the effects of facility conditions on student and teacher attitudes, behaviors, and performance within schools slated for renovations in a large metropolitan school district. The research applied a school leadership-building design model to explore how six…

In this article, the author reports on what he found impressive in the evaluation results of the program Reading First (RF) in four states: Utah, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Florida. The author states that responding to these four exemplary state-level studies of Reading First evoked mixed feelings. He noticed three things: (1) the RF effect…

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BD) experience deficits in social, behavioral, and academic areas. Of great importance in the academic area is reading achievement. Students with E/BD who struggle with reading tend to have negative in-school and post-school outcomes. Due to the severity of potential outcomes, it is essential to…

The 2006 Spellings Commission report, "A Test of Leadership," stated that substandard high school preparation is compounded by poor alignment between high schools and colleges, which often creates an "expectations gap" between what colleges require and what high schools produce. This gap results in an annual expenditure of roughly one billion…

Students in an eighth-grade, urban, low-achieving reading class were introduced to critical literacy through engagement in Image Theatre. Developed by liberatory dramatist Augusto Boal, Image Theatre gives participants the opportunity to examine texts in the triple role of interpreter, artist, and sculptor (i.e., image creator). The researchers…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB, 2001) requires that all schools demonstrate that their students meet or exceed expectations on various measures of academic performance. This means that stakeholders at every level of the school system, including school counselors, must demonstrate how their efforts lead to greater student achievement (Bemak,…

A history of the achievement levels for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) could be documented in different ways. A chronological history might be the obvious approach, but in the author's view, that could miss the most salient aspects of setting student performance standards on an assessment like NAEP. Further, new initiatives…

Mathematics and reading scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) have increased among students attending elementary and secondary schools since the first time the assessment was administered. These score increases have been observed both for Black and White students; statistically significant score differences between the…

School districts have been struggling with the challenges of teaching English Language Learners (ELLs) for decades. Yet few studies have examined strategies for districtwide instructional reform for ELLs. To address this need, the Council of the Great City Schools sought to explore the experiences of large, urban districts with differing levels of…

The "Condition of Education" summarizes important developments and trends in education using the latest available data. For the 2009 edition, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) prepared this supplemental report to take a closer look at U.S. student performance on international assessments. This special analysis examines…

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a significant difference in parental involvement in a high performing elementary school and a low performing elementary school based on Epstein's Six Types of Involvement. The extent of parental involvement was identified by using The School and Family Partnership Survey Questionnaire for…

What beginning reading programs have been proven to help students in grades K-1 to succeed? To find out, this review summarizes evidence on four types of programs designed to improve beginning reading achievement: (1) Reading Curricula (Curr), such as "Open Court Reading," "Reading Street," and other standard and alternative textbooks; (2)…

This study examined the relationship between parental influence and the school readiness of African American boys, using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study: ECLS-K, Parents' influence, via their academic beliefs and behaviors, was associated with the cognitive performance of African American boys during kindergarten. While previous…

This study was designed to investigate the effect of English reading comprehension on cognate knowledge among a sample of Spanish-speaking bilinguals alongside their monolingual English-speaking counterparts. In order to understand this developmental relationship, the effects of English reading comprehension were controlled in regression analyses,…