This study investigated elementary teachers' observations of how a representative sample of achieving, average and struggling readers adapted the use of best practice comprehension strategies taught in the classroom as well as during instructional level guided reading time. A researcher-constructed strategy checklist was the instrument teachers…

The purpose of this quantitative descriptive study was to determine whether significant differences existed in the perceptions of elementary school teachers regarding the presence of the 5 dimensions of professional learning communities (PLCs) in Title I schools scoring above versus Title I schools scoring below the 55th percentile on state…

Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth-and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and for…

In 2012 the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Government introduced a number of reforms to the higher education system in England. The main change was to abolish direct state subsidies for the teaching of most subjects, and replace them with a state-subsidised tuition fee of up to $9,000 (US $13,700). A number of other changes were also made, all with…

Since its inception more than four decades ago, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has served as a key indicator of what the nation's students know and can do in academic subjects. NAEP assessments provide a mechanism for putting the achievements of students in all states on a common scale; the assessments also serve as…

"Learning progressions" are one of the most important assessment design ideas to be introduced in the past decade. In the United States, several committees of the National Research Council (NRC) have argued for the use of learning progressions as a means to foster both deeper mastery of subject-matter content and higher level reasoning…

Existing studies from the United States, Latin America and Asia provide scant evidence that private schools dramatically improve academic performance relative to public schools. Using data from Kenya--a poor country with weak public institutions--we find a large effect of private schooling on test scores, equivalent to one full standard deviation.…

This program evaluation focused on one year of Bridges to Tomorrow, a multi-year initiative designed by Metro United Way to better prepare at-risk children for academic success upon entering kindergarten. Bridges to Tomorrow provided three child care centers operating in at-risk neighborhoods with interventions that included a structured…

One of the most widely used commercially available systems incorporating benchmark assessment and training in differentiated instruction is the Northwest Evaluation Association's (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) program. The MAP program involves two components: (1) computer-adaptive assessments administered to students three to four…

The author expounds the "status quo" of college English assessment system in China and objectively points out some major problems that have negative impacts on college English teaching and learning. On the basis of pros and cons towards the issue, the author intends to come up with some effective countermeasures, including converting the…

This article analyses the findings of a survey exploring Swedish leisure-time pedagogues' experiences of assessment in school and leisure-time centres. It aims to boost knowledge of how assessment, as a prominent example of changed education governance, is entering the work of leisure-time pedagogues and how it is perceived by them. It is…

Charter schools have become a leading alternative to traditional public education, where children of color have historically experienced low academic performance and dismal results on state-mandated testing. Whether these institutions are, in fact, the answer to what ails education is a matter of debate. Those who support charter schools point to…

In May 2006, Project Forum published a document entitled "Standards-Based IEPs: Implementation in Selected States" based on staff interviews in 18 states about their use of standards-based individualized education programs (IEPs). The definition of a standards-based IEP as presented in that document is: "a process and document that…

This article introduces the Special Class for the Gifted Young (SCGY), an early college entrance program in mathematics and science in China, which has been a focus for media coverage and public discussion of accelerated education in China. We first describe the admission policy and academic programming of SCGY and delineate its distinct features.…

Background/Context: Two key uses of international assessments of achievement have been (a) comparing country performances for identifying the countries with the best education systems and (2) generating insights about effective policy and practice strategies that are associated with higher learning outcomes. Do country rankings really reflect the…