This study clarifies achievement trends that occurred under NCLB and explains why NCLB reporting practices made those trends so hard to see. It concludes by describing important contributions that new PARCC exams can make and warns of new reporting problems that threaten to squander those contributions before they see the light of day.

Although mathematical pattern tasks are often found in elementary school curricula and are deemed a building block for algebra, a recent report (National Mathematics Advisory Panel, 2008) suggests the resources devoted to its teaching and assessment need to be rebalanced. We examined whether children's developing proficiency in solving algebraic…

Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) refers to a delay in motor development that does not have any known medical cause. Studies conducted in English speaking societies have found that children with DCD display a higher co-occurrence rate of learning difficulties (e.g., problems in reading and writing) than typically developing (TD) children.…

A descriptive picture of the students in the Minneapolis Public Schools' Special Learning and Behavior Problems (SLBP) Title I ESEA program is presented. Eighteen Title I teachers trained in special learning and behavior problems work in Target Area elementary schools. SLBP teachers provide individual instruction for children with severe learning…

The Brief Academic Competence Evaluation Screening System (BACESS) is a multiphase universal screening measure designed to assist educators in the identification of students who are likely to experience learning difficulties in elementary school. This study evaluated the reliability and validity of the measure for this purpose. The BACESS was used…

This book contains a compilation of papers presented at the International Conference on Education and New Developments (END 2017), organized by the World Institute for Advanced Research and Science (W.I.A.R.S.). Education, in our contemporary world, is a right since we are born. Every experience has a formative effect on the constitution of the…

Analysis of comparisons of subtest scores of 76 students (grades two - six) on the Peabody Individual Achievement Test and the Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests revealed that, although correlations for the total group were highly significant in both comparisons, a grade level analysis demonstrated wide variability in results. (CL)

This article lists a series of ten defects that account for most of the inaccuracies in achievement tests. (Author/AM)

In 1987, a survey report by J. Cannell was published criticizing state reports based on national standardized testing of elementary school students that indicated that all 50 states were above the national average. This phenomenon--known as the "Lake Wobegon Effect"--is analyzed. Technical problems with the study are considered. (TJH)

The authors hypothesize that the concreteness of the mode of item presentation would influence the subjects' performance on the Purdue Elementary Problem Solving Inventory. Results suggest that the variables of degree of disadvantage and ethnic background are sometimes more relevant than the mode in which the content is presented. (HMV)

Many of the evaluations summarized in state and local Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title I reports have been negatively affected by methodological errors or the use of different, incompatible formats. Although new, detailed evaluation and reporting procedures have been developed for Title I research projects, two problems remain:…

More than 50,000 New York City special education students in self-contained classes and resource rooms in grades 2-9 were tested in reading on the California Achievement Test, Form C. Students who had testing modifications recommended on their individualized education programs were tested with the appropriate modification. Among the moderately…

The methodology suggested in this paper employs a selection rule for identifying group members that generates groups that have a range of achievement within groups but equal distribution of raw scores between. (Author/BW)

In April 1974, allegations were made that students, teachers, and the general public had access to the New York Citywide Reading Test prior to its administration, and the results, therefore, were invalid. In the face of these allegations, New York City developed a strategy for the administration of a secure test: a test never before available in…

Presents recommendations for improved testing practices in science based on an examination of contemporary assessment literature and interviews with educators. The recommendations address test format, teacher involvement in all steps of the testing process, and use of sampling strategies and computer technology. (MBR)