This article evaluates the mandatory English as a foreign language textbooks provided by the government in Chile in terms of readability and types of questions. Three readability formulas are used to analyze the texts: Flesch Reading Ease, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, and Coh-Metrix L2 reading index (RDL2). To evaluate the cognitive demands that…

This phenomenological study explores students' decision-making about whether to remain in an optional French immersion (FI) mathematics course in Grade 11, as well as students' subsequent experiences in their mathematics course of choice. Interview data were collected from 10 students who remained in FI mathematics and from six students who did…

We report a classroom experiment directed at increasing lexical fluency in writing. Participants were 107 Dutch students in bilingual (EFL) education (Grades 10 and 11). According to current theories of writing such fluency allows writers to devote more attention to higher order aspects of text production, such as idea generation, selection and…

This study describes enrollment and achievement trends of limited English proficient (LEP) students in New Jersey public schools between 2002/03 and 2008/09. It documents achievement gaps between LEP and general education students in language arts literacy and math. The study's main findings include: (1) From 2002/03 to 2008/09, LEP student…

This study describes enrollment and achievement trends of limited English proficient (LEP) students in New Jersey public schools between 2002/03 and 2008/09. It documents achievement gaps between LEP and general education students in language arts literacy and math. The study's main findings include: (1) From 2002/03 to 2008/09, LEP student…

In this article, Fairbanks, Crooks, and Ariail followed Esme Martinez, a Spanish-speaking Latina, from the sixth grade to the eleventh grade, focusing on her perspectives of schooling and her shifting identities related to home, school, friendships, and future. Drawing on the construct of artifacts, a sociohistorical concept that understands…

This paper describes a study comparing paper-based marking (PBM) and onscreen marking (OSM) in Hong Kong utilising English language essay scripts drawn from the live 2007 Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE) Year 11 English Language Writing Paper. In the study, 30 raters from the 2007 HKCEE Writing Paper marked on paper 100…

This report by the Center on Education Policy (CEP), an independent nonprofit organization, examines progress in raising achievement for English language learners. It also describes the factors that make it difficult to accurately assess what ELLs know and can do. The data for this analysis were collected by CEP with technical support from the…

In grade 8 (the only grade in which subgroup trends were analyzed by achievement level), Arkansas showed across-the-board gains--improvements in reading and math at the basic, proficient and advanced levels for all racial/ethnic subgroups, low income students, and boys and girls. The gains were quite large in most instances, especially at the…

In grade 8 (the only grade in which subgroup trends were analyzed by achievement level), Alabama students showed gains across the board in reading and math--at the basic, proficient, and advanced levels for all racial/ethnic subgroups, low income students, and boys and girls. Progress was made in narrowing achievement gaps between racial/ethnic…

Georgia has made some changes in its testing program in recent years. As a result, trend data were only available for reading in grades 4 and 8 from 2006 through 2009, and only at the proficient and advanced levels. In math, data were only available for the high school level from 2004 through 2009. Achievement data for low income students were…

This paper profiles the student subgroup achievement and gap trends in Vermont for 2010. Vermont's demographic profile is such that achievement trends could only be determined for white, male and female, and low-income student subgroups. In grade 8 (the only grade in which subgroup trends were analyzed by achievement level), the white, low-income,…

This paper profiles the student subgroup achievement and gap trends in South Dakota for 2010. South Dakota's demographic profile is such that, with the exception of Native American students, there are fewer than 500 students in the racial/ethnic subgroups at the various grade levels, and therefore these groups are too small to count for this…

The Seattle Public Schools serve one of the most diverse student bodies in the nation. The school system's enrollment represents many racial and ethnic groups and includes students from around the world who come to Seattle speaking many languages and families who came to the city generations ago. The challenge facing Seattle and all other major…