This paper describes the data sources and method used in conducting a 3-year evaluation of the Urban Systemic Initiative (USI) of the National Science Foundation in four cities. The paper also provides a discussion of two approaches to analyzing the evaluation results: structural equation modeling (SEM) and a complementary analysis of the…

This paper examines how controlling statistically for baseline covariates (especially pretests) improves the precision of studies that randomize schools to measure the impacts of educational interventions on student achievement. Part I of the paper introduces the concepts, issues, and options involved. Parts II and III present empirical findings…

Numerous researchers have found positive effects of year round school on student achievement. This study examined the progress of third grade teachers from one traditional school and one year round school through their reading and mathematics textbooks in order to determine whether this purported benefit was realized in the year round school…

This report is the third in a series based on findings about young children's early experiences with school from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K). Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, the ECLS-K study selected a nationally representative sample of…

This study explored the perspectives of teachers, administrators, and students as they were engaged in a 5-year funded project aimed at improving science and mathematics achievement for African American students in a school district. The study also discusses the obstacles that hindered and the supports that bolstered this project. In this study,…

This paper reports on a study carried out in the Netherlands which is aimed at finding an explanation for the curious evidence that the reformed approach to mathematics education appears to have a less positive influence on girls' results. Over and over it turns out that girls' achievement scores in primary mathematics are lower than those of…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of environmental conditions of adult literacy and demographics prevalent during infancy and early childhood on mathematics and language arts literacy scores on eighth grade achievement tests. This study collected published scores for eighth grade math and language literacy from public schools…

This study offers systematic trend analyses of NAEP national and state-level public school fourth and eighth graders' reading and math achievement results during pre-NCLB (1990-2001) and post-NCLB (2002-2005) periods. It compares post-NCLB trends in reading and math achievement with pre-NCLB trends among different racial and socioeconomic groups…

This research project investigated the effects of computer-assisted cooperative learning in mathematics instruction within integrated classrooms for 118 third-graders (25 with learning disabilities) and 92 fourth-graders (16 with learning disabilities). Students were grouped into cooperative learning, whole-class, or individual learning situations…

Alarming questions are being asked of the teaching methods in present use. Are we maximizing the time on task in the classroom? Students (n=98) in a remedial mathematics course were studied for one semester and students (n=56) from a developmental mathematics course were studied in the second semester, at Tennessee Technological University.…

Drawing from 1990 and 1996 data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), this study examined disparities between White and African American students' mathematics performances and classroom experiences, with attention to interactions among race, socioeconomic status (SES), and gender. Overall, NAEP scores increased for both…

This companion database to the Mathematics Comparison Study consists of the entire set of all the general and specific outcomes that were referenced in the report. The database is being released in response to requests made during the review of the draft document in June, 1999, for more information. In the main report, only codings for the general…

During childhood students develop habitual, characteristic, optimistic or pessimistic causal explanations for the everyday events in their lives. Furthermore, they acquire attributional patterns for their educational successes and failures which influence their attitudes, motivations and goals. In this study, relationships between primary and…

South Africa participated in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)in 1995 and its repeat in 1999. In 1995, none of the data on school or teacher level could be analyzed to provide the context for the students' poor achievements in mathematics and science. With the 1999 data now available at both school and teacher levels in…

This study explored the relationship between an increase in the percentage of certified teachers and gains in performance on reading and mathematics achievement tests among New York City Schools Under Registration Review (SURR) elementary and middle schools. It examined whether the percentage of certified teachers related to student outcomes…