Recent analyses challenge common wisdom regarding the superiority of private schools relative to public schools, raising questions about the role of school processes and climate in shaping achievement in different types of schools. While holding demographic factors constant, this multilevel analysis of National Assessment of Educational Progress…

With the increased focus on issues of diversity and multiculturalism in the United States and abroad, educators and clinicians have become more and more concerned about the feasibility and validity of their assessment instruments and practices for children and adults from nonWhite backgrounds. Many researchers emphasize that when working with…

State public policy has been an important tool for improving the educational preparation and opportunity for many communities. However, without concerted statewide efforts it will continue to be difficult to substantially expand opportunities to accelerate higher education attainment and workforce preparation. Over the next 15 years, the states…

One of the greatest challenges that community colleges face in their efforts to increase graduation rates is improving the success of students in their developmental, or remedial, education programs--the courses that students without adequate academic preparation must take before they can enroll in courses for college credit. Emphasizing results…

This report summarizes preliminary and exploratory research conducted by the Council of the Great City Schools and the American Institutes for Research on urban school systems participating in the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The study is one of the first large-scale analyses…

In a more consistent and viable manner than ever before, education in Alabama is moving toward its ultimate goal of providing every student with a quality education, thereby preparing them for work, college, and life after high school. Alabama's graduation rates from 2002 to 2008 increased significantly, tripling the national average increase and…

The slippery downhill slide of geography as a taught subject in Tasmanian schools is a lamentable case of lost opportunity. Curriculum reforms reported in previous Forum papers for IRGEE (Robertson, 2003a, 2003b) highlight the time lag in responses to these changes by geography educators. Perhaps because they have steadfastly held to the belief…

The author provides a preliminary assessment of the extent to which a sample of 264 school social workers are aware of the Internet-related problems children are experiencing and proposes ways in which Internet-related problems could affect youths' social and academic competence and performance in a school setting. The findings have implications…

This paper presents findings from a study that developed a model process and created a Quality of Life-Value-Added Index for Education. The model helps communities assess the value-added characteristics of education by providing the methods necessary to evaluate the value added of their schools. "Value-added" refers to the value that…

Science education standards are criteria by which to judge the quality of what students know and are able to do, of the science programs that provide the opportunity for students to learn science, of science teaching, of the system that supports science teachers and programs, and of assessment practices and policies. This document summarizes the…

This paper describes and reviews the Effective Early Learning (EEL) Research Project's approach to quality evaluation and improvement in early childhood settings in the United Kingdom which focuses primarily on enhancing the effectiveness of the early learning experiences of young children. The project began work in May 1993 and is completing its…

This research investigates whether the Computer-Based Academic Assessment System (CAAS), a battery of tests examining speed and accuracy at performing component reading skills, would be useful for identifying reading disability in college students. One important question was whether CAAS could distinguish reading disability from non-disability or…

When individuals are given tests that are too hard or too easy, the resulting scores are likely to be poor estimates of their performance. To get valid and accurate test scores that provide meaningful results, one should use functional-level testing (FLT). FLT is the practice of administering to an individual a version of a test with a difficulty…

Statistical significance tests (SSTs) have been the object of much controversy among social scientists. Proponents have hailed SSTs as an objective means for minimizing the likelihood that chance factors have contributed to research results. Critics have both questioned the logic underlying SSTs and bemoaned the widespread misapplication and…

Educational reform efforts have led to increased use of alternatives to the traditional binary-scored multiple choice item. Many stimuli employed by these alternative assessments yield complex responses that require complex scoring rules. Some of these new item types can be polytomously-scored. Differential item functioning (DIF) assessment is a…