This study was premised on the importance of vocabulary in comprehending text. Critical findings from both the National Reading Plan (NRP) and the National Reading Technical Assistance Center (NRTAC) frame this study, both in the intervention that was implemented and in the manner in which outcomes were measured. Using expository passages…

This technical report provides a summary of feedback from teachers, administrators, and support personnel who used the easyCBM progress monitoring and benchmark assessment system during school year 2009/2010. Data were gathered from semi-structured focus groups conducted during the 2010 easyCBM August Institute at the University of Oregon. Results…

Current educational policies require the participation of students with disabilities in state assessments. Their participation has raised a number of issues, among them the need for accommodations. In this article we consider the role that assistive technology (AT) can play to alleviate current accommodations demands, and highlight research and…

The review examines evaluations of the efficacy of special education programs for mildly disabled children. The author suggests that serious methodological flaws make our present knowledge in this area very weak and proposes a methodology to address and overcome many of the limitations of previous research. (Author)

A system-level analysis of the effectiveness of special education was conducted in an educational cooperative comprised of six school districts. In total, 96 students (grades 1-6) were assessed three times during the year on direct, curriculum-based measures of achievement in math, reading, and spelling. Analyses of student performance data were…

The focus of this study was on the visual analysis of time series data for evaluating educational programs. Two characteristics of the data--changes in slope and variability--and two characteristics of evaluation--training in data utilization and the use of aimlines/decision rules--were manipulated. A total of 51 students and/or teachers in…

This paper explores the difficulties of extending good, workable educational ideas to entire schools or districts. Two restructured schools that participated in a 4-year collaborative project that involved multi-age primary classrooms, inclusion of special-needs students in regular classrooms, and increasing specificity in assessing student…

Research into the technical adequacy of statewide alternate assessments is limited. In this study, the authors analyzed 2 years of data from one state's alternate assessment in written language in an attempt to validate current test score interpretations. More than 1,000 students were included in each year. Findings support the test's technical…

Effectively teaching low-achieving and learning disabled students is challenging. Concept-based instruction is recognized as a particularly effective technique for helping students in these populations attain high levels of achievement (Tindal, Nolet, & Blake, 1992). The maze (a reading selection where certain words have been deleted and…