An important feature of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is its ability to document trends in academic achievement on core curriculum areas over an extended period of time. This report presents the major results of the NAEP 1996 science, mathematics, reading, and writing long-term assessments. These results chart trends going…

The purpose of this report is to provide technical information about the 1996 State Assessment in Mathematics. It provides a description of the design for the State Assessment and gives an overview of the steps involved in the implementation of the program from the planning stages through to the analysis and reporting of the data. The report…

ExceL grants are a local funding initiative of the Austin Independent School District (Texas) designed to improve student achievement at the elementary level. Schools submit proposals for the 4-year grants, and the amount of the grant is determined based on the number of students not meeting minimum expectations on the Texas Assessment of Academic…

The Verbal, Mathematics, Academic, and General self-concept scales of the Self Description Questionnaire (SDQII) (H. Marsh, 1990, 1993) were translated into Chinese and administered to high school students in China (N=493). Item scale correlations and reliability coefficients were good (alphas=0.85, 0.91, 0.87, and 0.86 respectively). Confirmatory…

New York University studied the impact of increases in instructional group size in resource rooms and speech service in the New York City Public Schools by examining increases in 45 public elementary, middle, and senior high schools. Questionnaires were distributed to parents, and teachers and administrators were interviewed. Observations of…

Mastering mathematics has become more important than ever in the United States. Students with a strong grasp of mathematics have an advantage in academics and in the job market. The eighth grade is a critical point in mathematics education. Achievement at that stage clears the way for students to take rigorous high school mathematics and science…

This action research project sought to increase parental involvement to improve academic achievement in the subjects of reading and math for fourth- through sixth-grade students in two Midwestern metropolitan schools. An increased number of non-English speaking parents and working parents, a lack of parent training, and teacher resistance to…

This paper reports on an ongoing effort of the Vermont Mental Health Performance Indicator Project (PIP) to examine the relevance and utility of standardized test scores for evaluating community mental health programs. This analysis is of test scores from Vermont's first four years of statewide testing. The study is examining anonymous…

The Urban Systemic Initiatives (USI) program is an effort sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that targets large urban school systems with the goal of sustainable implementation of high-quality, standards-based teaching for the purpose of attaining system-wide increases in students' learning of challenging mathematics and science.…

The primary objective of this study was to investigate overall patterns of gender differences and similarities of test performance in mathematics. To achieve that objective, observed test scores on the Delaware standards-based assessment were analyzed to examine: (1) gender differences and similarities across grades 3, 5, 8 and 10 over 2 years;…

The Jump Start program is a preschool program serving about 4,000 four-year-olds in a partnership including Head Start, Even Start, a tuition-based program, and the Kentucky preschool program mandated by the Kentucky Educational Reform Act (KERA). This study compared the family of Jump Start programs and a comparison group on student academic…

School psychologists are in a unique position to add to the discussion about accountability efforts and the effect on students, teachers, and education. At the end of North Carolina's 2000-2001 school year, End-of-Grade (EOG) scores will be used to hold individual students accountable for their own achievement. Fifth graders will be required to…

This profile is designed as a recording sheet for monitoring an individual student's progress throughout the school year. First grade assessment materials and the "Strategies for Instruction in Mathematics" suggest tasks and questions that can be used for on-going and summative assessment. Directions for use and descriptions of levels of…

This profile is designed as a recording sheet for monitoring an individual student's progress throughout the school year. Second grade assessment materials and the "Strategies for Instruction in Mathematics" suggest tasks and questions that can be used for on-going and summative assessment. Directions for use and descriptions of levels of…

This profile is designed as a recording sheet for monitoring an individual student's progress throughout the school year. Fourth grade assessment materials and the "Strategies for Instruction in Mathematics" suggest tasks and questions that can be used for on-going and summative assessment. Directions for use and descriptions of levels of…