Obstacles to the classroom implementation of the fourth grade Math component of Louisiana's web-based testing tutorial were addressed in this informal pilot. Technology integration improved standardized test preparation for students with special needs. Supplemental test preparation sessions give the benefits of (a) increased familiarity with…

The purpose of this study was to compare Alabama's rural school districts with its city, suburban, and town districts. Descriptive statistics were used for this population study, with effect sizes calculated using Cohen's d. Findings indicated Alabama's rural school districts serve slightly less affluent student populations, with a lower…

Intelligent tutors have become increasingly accurate at detecting whether a student knows a skill, or knowledge component (KC), at a given time. However, current student models do not tell us exactly at which point a KC is learned. In this paper, we present a machine-learned model that assesses the probability that a student learned a KC at a…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a classroom-teacher-delivered reading intervention for struggling readers called the Targeted Reading Intervention (TRI), designed particularly for kindergarten and first-grade teachers and their struggling students in rural, low-wealth communities. The TRI was delivered via an innovative…

This study investigated the extent to which children's knowledge about reading disabilities, preoccupation with their own reading disability, and anxiety predicted reading comprehension in fifth and sixth grade children with reading disabilities (N = 85). Participants provided rich and accurate information about reading disabilities and the…

Test score validity takes center stage in the debate over the use of high school exit exams. Scant literature addresses the amount of conditional standard error of measurement (CSEM) present in individual student results on high school exit exams. The purpose of this study is to fill a void in the literature and add a national review of the CSEM,…

This study tested the effects of 5 classroom contextual features on the social status (perceived popularity and social preference) that peers accord to aggressive students in late elementary school, including classroom peer status hierarchy (whether within-classroom differences in popularity are large or small), classroom academic level, and grade…

For 20 years, Advocates for Children of New Jersey has published the Newark Kids Count Data Book, a one-stop source for child well-being data on our state's largest city. Newark Kids Count includes the latest statistics, along with five-year trend data, in the following areas: demographics, family economic security, food insecurity, child health,…

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect that alternative block scheduling has on the retention of English language skills and student attendance rate. In addition, the study explored the difference between teachers' preferences of alternative block scheduling versus traditional scheduling as it relates to years of teaching. The…

"This Is Only a Test" helps teachers plan a year of instruction that takes testing into account while staying focused on a curriculum that encourages students to love and understand mathematics. Transform teachers' and students' feelings toward standardized tests from panic and anxiety to control and confidence. This book's proven strategies help…

Following past researches, student background, learning strategies, self-related cognitions in mathematics and school climate variables were important for achievement. The purpose of this study was to identify a number of factors that represent the relationship among sets of interrelated variables using principal component factor analysis and…

Recent months have brought an ever-louder drumbeat in support of state-level participation in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), with a weaker chorus calling for states to participate in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Despite the growing infatuation with international comparisons of…

Background: The quality of very preterm infants' spontaneous movements at 11 to 16 weeks post-term age is a powerful predictor of their later neurological status. This study investigated whether early spontaneous movements also have predictive value for the intellectual and behavioural problems that children born very preterm often experience.…

In the current climate of high stakes testing and tough love rhetoric, many educational stakeholders have become increasingly reliant on standardized test scores to determine whether or not individual students, teachers, and schools--and even entire districts and states--are successful. In contrast to the black and white picture that test-driven…

Purpose: The present study examined the utility of 2 measures proposed as markers of specific language impairment (SLI) in identifying specific impairments in language or working memory in school-age children. Method: A group of 400 school-age children completed a 5-min screening consisting of nonword repetition and sentence recall. A subset of…