Contemporary state math standards emphasize that students must demonstrate an understanding of the mathematical ideas underlying the computations that have typically been the core of the elementary school math curriculum. The standards have put an increased emphasis on the study of fractions in upper elementary grades, which are the years during…

This report examines the impact of content-intensive Professional Development (PD) on teachers' math content knowledge, their instructional practice, and their students' achievement. The study's PD had three components, totaling 93 hours. The core of the PD was "Intel Math," an intensive 80-hour workshop delivered in summer 2013 that…

STEM Pathways aims to increase youths' long-term interest, learning and achievement in STEM through a deliberate and interconnected system of STEM learning opportunities. STEM Pathways is a partnership between five informal STEM organizations--The Bakken, Bell Museum of Natural History, Minnesota Zoo, STARBASE Minnesota, and The Works--and the…

The purpose of this report is to describe the technical qualities of the 2018-2019 operational administration of the English language arts/literacy (ELA/L) and mathematics summative assessments in grades 3 through 8 and high school. The ELA/L assessments focus on reading and comprehending a range of sufficiently complex texts independently and…

The purpose of this report is to describe the technical qualities of the 2018-2019 operational administration of the English language arts/literacy (ELA/L) and mathematics assessments in grades 3 through 8 and high school. New Meridian, in coordination with multiple states and vendors, developed an alternate form of the summative assessment to…

STEM Pathways aims to increase youths' long-term interest, learning, and achievement in STEM through a deliberate and interconnected system of STEM learning opportunities. In fall 2014 and spring 2015, a survey was administered to fourth- and fifth-grade students at the six STEM Pathways schools in Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS). Most of the…

STEM Pathways aims to increase youths' long-term interest, learning and achievement in STEM through a deliberate and interconnected system of STEM learning opportunities. In fall 2014 and spring 2015, a survey was administered to fourth- and fifth-grade students at the six STEM Pathways schools in Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS). The survey…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) mathematics assessment measures students' knowledge and skills in mathematics and students' ability to apply their knowledge in problem-solving situations. At each grade, students responded to questions designed to measure what they know and can do across five mathematics content areas: number…

This report presents results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2010 civics assessment. National results for representative samples of students at grades 4, 8, and 12 are reported as average scale scores and as a percentage of students performing at or above three achievement levels: "Basic,"…

Within a response to intervention (RTI) framework, students are typically identified as "academically at-risk" if they score below a specified cut-point on a benchmark screener. Students identified as at-risk are provided with an intervention intended to increase achievement. In the following technical report, we describe a process for…

This technical report presents results from a cross-validation study designed to identify optimal cut scores when using easyCBM[R] reading tests in Washington state. The cross-validation study analyzes data from the 2009-2010 academic year for easyCBM[R] reading measures. A sample of approximately 900 students per grade, randomly split into two…

With the support of the Noyce Foundation, National 4-H Council has contracted with Policy Studies Associates (PSA) to evaluate the implementation of the 4-H Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) Initiative. The goals of this initiative are to increase the number and quality of science, engineering, and technology programs that 4-H offers…

BRT Math Screening Measures focus on students' mathematics performance in grade-level standards for students in grades 1-8. A total of 24 test forms are available with three test forms per grade corresponding to fall, winter, and spring testing periods. Each form contains computation problems and application problems. BRT Math Screening Measures…

The process used for this alignment was an abbreviated version of the alignment work and models developed by Norman L. Webb (1997, 1999, 2001, and 2002), and used in alignment studies of the Idaho state assessment system. While the full Webb alignment includes four dimensions, this study only considers two of the dimensions -- Depth of Knowledge…

The "TIMSS 2011 International Results in Mathematics" summarizes fourth and eighth grade student achievement in each of the 63 countries and 14 benchmarking entities which participated in TIMSS 2011. The report includes trends in mathematics achievement over time for participants in the previous TIMSS 1995, 1999, 2003, and 2007…