Purpose: Written and spoken language abilities are closely connected, and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) can play important roles in the development of children's word reading. However, SLPs may have less knowledge about word reading assessment and intervention than they do about oral language. Therefore, in this tutorial, we describe the…

The accountability era has produced school grading systems that purport to evaluate school effectiveness yet utilize hegemonic formulas that label low-scoring schools and neighborhoods, depriving them of incentive monies tied to their school grades. This quantitative study analyzed the publicly available data of 106 elementary schools in one large…

Local Item Dependence (LID) is a desecration of Local Item Independence (LII) which can lead to overestimating or underestimating a candidate's ability in mathematics items and create validity problems. The study investigated the intra and inter-LID of mathematics items. The study made use of ex-post facto research. The population encompassed all…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is an integral measure of academic progress across the nation and over time. It is the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what our nation's students know and can do in various subjects such as mathematics, reading, and science. The program also provides valuable…

Recent instructional reforms in science education bring a new vision that aims to move science teaching away from a focus on discrete facts covered at a superficial level to a focus on a smaller number of disciplinary core ideas that can be explored in depth. The success of these reforms depends on the instructional quality in science classrooms.…

Medical and healthcare practice is likely to see fundamental changes in the future that will require a different approach to the way in which we educate, train, and assess the next generation of healthcare professionals. The anatomical sciences will need to be part of that challenge so they continue to play a full role in preparing students with…

How should we assess the variety of ideas students encounter in education about the kinds of people they ought to be? What kind of people should students be educated to become? In this essay, I argue that the line of thought opened up by David Bakhurst's recent work offers a philosophically robust way to approach the twofold project of (1)…

Technical difficulties occasionally lead to missing item scores and hence to incomplete data on computerized tests. It is not straightforward to report scores to the examinees whose data are incomplete due to technical difficulties. Such reporting essentially involves imputation of missing scores. In this paper, a simulation study based on data…

In the field of education, we bump constantly into buzzwords, pass unclear phrases in the hall, and greet acronyms as good friends. Yet rarely is it that we unpack or critically examine what is meant when phrases are uttered. What does it actually "mean" to "enhance institutional effectiveness"? To "foster synergy"?…

Schools have an increased focus on implementing schoolwide initiatives (e.g., multi-tiered systems of support; MTSS) to address risk factors related to dropping out. These interventions can involve multiple domains, including academic, behavioural, and social and emotional supports. Although researchers suggest that schoolwide interventions are…

Quality early childhood care and education (ECCE) is important for young children's holistic healthy development. As ECCE scales, contextually relevant and feasible measurement is needed to inform policy and programs on strengths and areas for improvement. However, few measures have been designed for use across diverse contexts. Drawing on…

The majority of students with exceptional needs receive most of their formal education in general education or inclusive classrooms. These students often need a variety of accommodations to ensure their success with the general education curriculum. The purpose of this article is to explore accommodation approaches and strategies for teaching…

The traditional points system and subsequent Grade Point Average (GPA) in education perpetuates an evaluation of academic performance which reflects arbitrary weighting of assignments and/or assessments. As such, GPAs which are calculated using a traditional points system are not unidimensional in their design. The baseball batting and slugging…

This report is the third in a series that unpacks the barriers to access that families face, the variety of solutions that navigation organizations have developed, and the challenges that limit the reach and impact of those solutions. This series offers recommendations for how to help navigators address these challenges and support more families…

An advisory group representing a broad range of education leaders and experts from across the Commonwealth participated in the Massachusetts Accountability System Review Advisory Committee between December 2023 and June 2024. This document describes the work of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to engage…