Automated writing evaluation (AWE) is an artificial intelligence (AI)-empowered educational technology designed to assist writing instruction and improve students' writing proficiency. The present study adopted a quasi-experimental design using the inverse probability of treatment weighting method to explore the long-term effects of an AWE system…

While policymakers have demonstrated considerable enthusiasm for "science of reading" initiatives, the evidence on the impact of related reforms when implemented at scale is limited. In this pre-registered, quasi-experimental study, we examine California's recent initiative to improve early literacy across the state's lowest-performing…

For the past decade, the number of homeless youth in the United States has drastically increased, with public schools now consistently serving over one million homeless students each year. Research spanning three decades has linked youth homelessness and poorer academic achievement. In addition to decreased academic achievement, homeless and…

Large-scale performance assessment programs are a longstanding reform tool. However, standard setting can be a challenge for assessment programs that use primarily non-standardized assessments. The purpose of this paper is to extend this field of research by explaining the standard setting methodology applied to one more recent instantiation of a…

These are the appendices for the report, "Ohio's Plan to Raise Literacy Achievement." They include: (1) Ohio's State Literacy Team; (2) Ohio's Theory of Action; (3) Coaching in Literacy (Ohio's Coaching Model); (4) Emergent Literacy Skills that Relate to Later Forms of Conventional Reading and Writing; (5) Nelp Literacy Variables; (6)…

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), like other state education agencies, recognizes that a key lever to turning around low-performing schools is the quality of instruction and thus embeds a schoolwide instructional quality measure into its monitoring process. Massachusetts' schoolwide quality instruction…

Automated writing evaluation (AWE) is a cutting-edge technology-based intervention designed to help teachers meet their challenges in writing classrooms and improve students' writing proficiency. The fast development of AWE systems, along with the encouragement of technology use in the U.S. K-12 education system by the Common Core State Standards…

In this dissertation, I examine how two major social programs in Kentucky--state-funded preK and Family Resource and Youth Service Centers--impact children's outcomes across the state, including racial, ethnic, and economic equity through elementary school. In each chapter, I will analyze how early childhood opportunities relate to outcomes…

Ensuring that students graduate high school prepared for college and careers has become a national priority in the last decade. To support this goal, states have adopted rigorous college and career readiness (CCR) standards in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics. Additionally, states have begun to require students to pass assessments, in…

The 2013 Washington State Legislature enacted legislation (Revised Code of Washington [RCW] 28A.165.100) requiring additional data reporting for the Learning Assistance Program (LAP). Under the guidelines provided in the law, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) produces an annual report to the Legislature summarizing the…

This article is about a year-long teaching and research project conducted with 696 4th graders (mostly 10-year olds) and their 36 teachers in Wyoming/USA. The researchers employed an action research approach. They planned and taught a two-day, Wyoming-themed, interdisciplinary unit, "We Are Wyoming", which integrated Social Studies,…

The need for standards-aligned curricula is the most cited Common Core challenge for states, districts, and schools. Yet five years into that implementation, teachers still report scrambling to find high-quality instructional materials. Despite publishers' claims, there is a dearth of programs that are truly aligned to the demands of the Common…

This report presents a multi-year study of how states are implementing their state college- and career-readiness standards. In this report, the Southern Regional Education Board's (SREB's) Benchmarking State Implementation of College- and Career-Readiness Standards project studied state efforts in 2014-15 and 2015-16 to foster effective…

This study investigates the influence of Green School designation on students' achievement in state-mandated standardized tests. Data were gathered 3 years pre- and post-Green schools designation, from test pass rates in reading and mathematics for Grade 5 and Grade 8 students, and from mathematics, English language arts, and biology scores for…

This evaluation study provides information about the implementation and outcomes of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program in West Virginia, from September 2014 through May 2015. The report draws on information from online surveys of 23 directors of 21st CCLC programs and from school teachers for 929 of the 11,299…