The 6+1 Trait[R] Writing model (Culham 2003) emphasizes writing instruction in which teachers and students analyze writing using a set of characteristics, or "traits," of written work: ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, and presentation. The Ideas trait includes the main content and message, including…

Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) is a set of instructional strategies designed to improve the reading comprehension of students with diverse abilities (Klingner and Vaughn 1996). Teachers implement CSR at the classroom level using scaffolded instruction to guide students in the independent use of four comprehension strategies; students apply…

The "Personnel Development Program to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities" is authorized under Section 662 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and is known as the Personnel Development Program (PDP). The PDP is administered by the U.S. Department of Education's (ED's) Office of Special…

This report examines the results of the field test for the base year of the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09). The general purposes of the field test were, in anticipation of the base-year full-scale effort, to test instruments, forms, and procedures; to experiment with different approaches to questionnaire content and survey…

In the following technical report, we present evidence of the technical adequacy of the easyCBM[R] math measures in grades K-2. In addition to reliability information, we present criterion-related validity evidence, both concurrent and predictive, and construct validity evidence. The results represent data gathered throughout the 2009/2010 school…

Character education has become one of the fastest growing reform movements in K-12 education today, partially in response to unacceptable levels of student misbehavior and inadequate endorsement of good character values (Williams 2000). Between 1993 and 2009, 36 states passed laws mandating or recommending some aspect of character education in…

The use of accommodations for both instruction and assessment continues to be of great importance for students with disabilities. The purpose of this report is to provide an update on the state of the research on testing accommodations, as well as to identify promising areas of research likely to contribute to understanding of current and emerging…

This manual provides guidance and documentation for users of the longitudinal kindergarten-fourth grade (K-4) public-use data file of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-11 (ECLS-K:2011), which includes the first release of the public version of the third-grade data. This manual mainly provides information specific…

We report the results of a test-retest and alternate form reliability study of grade 1, 3, 5, and 8 reading measures from the easyCBM assessment system. Approximately 50 students in each grade participated in the study. In Grade 1, we studied the following measures: Phoneme Segmenting, Letter Sounds, Letter Names, Word Reading Fluency, and Passage…

The purpose of this study was to examine the alignment of the easyCBM[R] mathematics benchmark and progress monitoring measures to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics "Curriculum Focal Points" (NCTM, 2006). Based on Webb's alignment model (1997, 2002), we collected expert judgments on individual math items across a sampling of forms…

This report summarizes research findings and implementation practices for teacher and principal value-added models (VAMs), as a first step in the Team Pennsylvania Foundation's (Team PA) pilot project to inform the development of a full, statewide model evaluation system. We have selected 21 studies that represent key issues and findings in the…

This user guide has been developed for users of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY). It consolidates existing technical documentation and other information into one document. The guide aims to address all aspects of the LSAY data including: how to access the data, data restrictions, variable naming conventions, the structure of the…

In this technical report, we provide the results of a series of studies on the technical adequacy of the early reading measures available on the easyCBM[R] assessment system. The results from the two-level hierarchical linear growth model analyses suggest that the reliability of the slope estimates for the easyCBM[R] reading measures are strong,…

In this technical report, data are presented on the practical utility, reliability, and validity of the easyCBM[R] mathematics (2009-2010 version) measures for students in grades 3-8 within four districts in two states. Analyses include: minimum acceptable within-year growth; minimum acceptable year-end benchmark performance; internal and…

How school-age children spend their time after school is a topic of interest among educators, policymakers, researchers, and parents. Many parents choose to have their children attend after-school programs, which may provide services such as academic instruction, cultural enrichment, safe places to stay, and adult supervision for children. This…