Minority gaps narrow for some grades in latest geography scores

The Nation's Report Card: Geography 2010 is now available and show somewhat smaller gaps between scores for Hispanics and whites (grade 4) and between Black and white students (grades 4 and 8). Overall, average scores were not significantly changed from 2001 (the last national assessment) for grades 8 and 12.
Links to the newest report are here: http://nationsreportcard.gov/

WWC comparison of elementary math programs

photo © 2011 Caroline (via: Wylio)
"The study examined the relative effectiveness of four early elementary school math curricula: Investigations in Number, Data, and Space; Math Expressions; Saxon Math; and Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley Mathematics.
The study analyzed data on more than 8,000 first- and second-grade students in 110 schools in 12 districts in 10 states....

more info
For first graders, the authors found no statistically significant differences in student math achievement among the curricula after adjusting results for multiple curricula comparisons within the same analysis.

For second graders, one difference was statistically significant after taking multiple curricula comparisons into account. Second-grade students attending Saxon Math schools scored 0.17 standard deviations higher than students attending Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley Mathematics schools, roughly equivalent to moving a student from the 50th to the 57th percentile in math achievement."
Additional information about the programs studied is here:
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/quickreviews/QRReport.aspx?QRId=170

Gloomy results persist in science performance

An article in today's edition of EdWeek reports on the continuing dismal performance of K-12 students in science, this time according to the NAEP results. Only 20 percent of 12th graders scored as "proficient" in science, lower than the proficient percentages for 8th graders ( 30% ) or 4th graders ( 34% ). These results confirm the mediocre science and math performance documented by the PISA results at the end of last year. Even more disturbing are the huge discrepancies in performance based on race/ethnicity and SES. Per the article in EdWeek, "At the 4th grade, for example, 47 percent of white students scored proficient or above, compared with 11 percent of African-American and 14 percent of Hispanic students. Meanwhile, only 15 percent of 4th graders eligible for a free lunch and 25 percent for a reduced-price lunch scored proficient or higher on the exam, compared with 48 percent of 8th graders ineligible for either."
Large percentages of students at all levels don't even reach basic levels in science, "The figure was highest at the 12th grade, where 40 percent were below basic, compared with 37 percent of 8th graders and 28 percent of 4th graders." And very few perform at high levels on the NAEP, "Only 1 percent of 4th and 12th graders earned an advanced score, and 2 percent at the 8th grade." Links to the 2009 report are here: http://nationsreportcard.gov/science_2009/

Measuring student engagement: K-12

A new report from REL Southeast:  "Measuring Student Engagement in Upper Elementary through High School: A Description of 21 Instruments, presents the results of a literature review of available instruments for measuring student engagement (behavioral, emotional and cognitive) in upper elementary through high school. The study describes 21 instruments that include student self-reports, teacher reports, and observation measures.
The report summarizes what is measured, instrument purposes and uses, and available technical information. In addition, instrument abstracts describe the main features of each instrument, including the developer, population, method, background, administration, constructs measured, scoring and reporting, reliability and validity, and use. References are listed for each instrument. The report is descriptive and is not intended to assess the quality of each instrument or identify strengths or weaknesses."


To view this report, see http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/projects/project.asp?projectID=268

19 states planning to implement performance based pre-licensing assessment for teachers

According to Education Week (Aug. 30, 2010), "Education programs across 19 states are piloting a performance-based assessment for teacher-candidates that potentially could serve as a common prelicensing measure for new teachers. Based on a test in use in about 30 education schools in California, the Teacher Performance Assessment includes a “teaching event” requiring teachers to extensively document and submit for review artifacts of their planning, instruction, and ability to assess and respond to student needs...Five of the states taking part in the work—Massachusetts, Minnesota, Ohio, Tennessee, and Washington—have committed in legislation to use a performance-based licensing test, and officials have signed memoranda of understanding agreeing to adopt the assessment if it proves to be technically valid and reliable."
Additional states planning on participating include California, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Elementary math package shows mixed results

This updated WWC Intervention Report reviews the research on Scott Foresman–Addison Wesley Elementary Mathematics, a core curriculum for students at all ability levels in prekindergarten through grade 6. The program focuses on developing questioning strategies and problem-solving skills and features embedded assessments and tailored exercises. The studies that meet WWC evidence standards included more than 2,800 elementary students from grades 1 through 5 in 49 schools. The schools were located in a mix of urban, suburban, and rural settings... Based on the review of the research, the WWC found the curriculum to have mixed effects on mathematics achievement for elementary school students.

Read the full report now at: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/elementary_math/sfawem/

Mixed results for "Literacy Express"

Literacy Express is a preschool curriculum designed for three- to five-year-old children. It is structured around units on oral language, emergent literacy, basic math, science, general knowledge, and socioemotional development.
Three studies of Literacy Express that fall within the scope of the Early Childhood Education review protocol meet What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards. The three studies include 1,004 preschool children from three to five years of age from 70 preschools...
Literacy Express was found to have positive effects on oral language, print knowledge, and phonological processing and no discernible effects on cognition and math for preschool children.

Summary and links to intervention report and technical appendices are here:
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/early_ed/lit_express/

Literacy Collaborative shows significant improvements in reading

A longitudinal (4 year) study funded by IES found substantial (32%) gains in reading skills as a result of implementing the Literacy Collaborative program. Differences were notable between schools and between teachers at studied schools, and the amount of coaching teachers received seemed to play a determining role. Highlights of the research findings include:

• Students’ average rates of learning increased by 16% in the first implementation year, 28% in the second implementation year, and 32% in the third implementation year.

• Teacher expertise increased substantially, and the rate of improvement was predicted by the amount of coaching a teacher received.

• Professional communication amongst teachers in the schools increased over the three years of implementation, and the literacy coordinators became more central in the schools’ communication networks.

A summary of the report is available here; the study will be published in an upcoming issue of The Elementary School Journal.

Study of reading and math software in the classroom

The study examined the effects of ten reading and mathematics software products on student achievement. The study analyzed data on more than 11,000 students in 400 classrooms and was conducted in 23 primarily urban, low-income school districts. The number of students in the analysis of each curriculum ranged from about 600 to about 2,600...the study found that one of six products reading products (LeapTrack^®, 4th grade) had positive effects on test scores; none of the four math products did.

This study met WWC standards and so the results are considered robust. As is most often the case, they find a lot out there that doesn't do what it's purported to...so WWC is a good place to check before investing in a new curriculum product. The brief review is here.

The complete citation is: Campuzano, L., Dynarski, M., Agodini, R., & Rall, K. (2009). Effectiveness of reading and mathematics software products: Findings from two student cohorts (NCEE 2009-4041). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.

Read the executive summary here.

NCES study finds states lowered proficiency levels

To read the full report, visit http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pubs/studies/2010456.asp

Additional resources for understanding state proficiency standards, including profiles of proficiency standards for each state, frequently asked questions, and copies of past reports, are available at
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/studies/statemapping.asp

Some excerpts from an article in today's Education Week~

"With 2014 approaching as the deadline by which states must get their all their students up to “proficient” levels on state tests, the U.S. Department of Education’s top statistics agency released data today suggesting that some states may have lowered student-proficiency standards on such tests in recent years.

For the 47-state study, researchers for the National Center for Education Statistics used student test scores to figure out where the proficiency levels on various state tests would lie on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

Their results suggest that between 2005 and 2007, various states made their standards less rigorous in one or more grade levels or subjects in at least 26 instances. In 12 instances, particular states appeared to make their standards more stringent in one or more grade levels or subjects.

Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, adopted nearly eight years ago, states are required to show that all students have attained proficient levels of performance in reading and mathematics by the end of the 2013-14 school year, and most states are far from reaching that goal.

“I think as 2014 looms, ... clearly what a lot of states are doing is changing the bar so that a lot more students will become proficient,” said Mark S. Schneider, who served as the NCES commissioner from 2005 to November 2008....

But the study uses a methodology that is controversial among some testing experts. They caution that the standardized exams that states use and the more rigorous NAEP—the congressionally mandated program known as “the nation’s report card”—are too different to put on the same scale....

The results, nonetheless, are expected to figure in growing efforts to develop common academic standards for what K-12 students should know and be able to do. So far, 48 states are taking part in a push to craft such standards, while federal education officials are at the same time making plans to award $350 million in grants to help states plan common assessments.

WWC evaluation of READ 180 program

What Works Clearinghouse seldom reports out studies that meet their evidence standards, so when they find some that meet standards, even with reservations, I do pay attention. Here is a brief description of this program and a link to the page with a brief chart and links to the full report.

"READ 180 is a reading program designed for students in elementary through high school whose reading achievement is below the proficient level. The goal of READ 180 is to address gaps in students’ skills through the use of a computer program, literature, and direct instruction in reading skills. The software component of the program aims to track and adapt to each student’s progress. In addition to the computer program, the READ 180 program includes workbooks designed to address reading comprehension skills, paperback books for independent reading, and audiobooks with corresponding CDs for modeled reading.

No studies of READ 180 meet What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards,² but seven studies meet WWC evidence standards with reservations. The seven studies included 10,638 students, ranging from grade 4 to grade 9, who attended elementary, middle, and high schools in Arizona, California, Florida, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia.³

Based on these seven studies, the WWC considers the extent of evidence for READ 180 to be medium to large for comprehension and general literacy achievement. No studies that meet WWC evidence standards with or without reservations examined the effectiveness of READ 180 in the alphabetics or reading fluency domains."

U.S. Performance Across International Assessments of Student Achievement

This Special Supplement to The Condition of Education 2009, for the first time, pulls together the evidence from the most recent international assessments taken by nearly a million students from 85 countries worldwide. This includes three internationally benchmarked exams -- the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)--to reveal how the United States compares with other countries across all three core subjects (math, science, reading) at the elementary, middle and high school level in terms of students' average scores and the percentage of students reaching internationally benchmarked performance levels. It also examines trends in U.S. student performance and the range of performance for the highest- and lowest-scoring students in each country.
The executive summary with major findings as well as links to the full text of the report is available here: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2009/analysis/

NCSER issues new reports on alternate assessments

Two new reports are out from the National Center for Special Education Research. The national report is available here: http://ies.ed.gov/ncser/pubs/20093014.asp
The state level reports are available here:
http://ies.ed.gov/ncser/pubs/20093013.asp
The National Study on Alternate Assessments (NSAA)was mandated by Section 664(c) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA) to examine alternate assessment systems in 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Black-White achievement gaps persist

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) within the Institute of Education Sciences has released a new report analyzing Black-White achievement gaps at both the national and state levels, using NAEP scores as a common yardstick. The study examines data from all main NAEP mathematics and reading assessments through 2007, supplemented by data from long-term trend NAEP results through 2004. Readers will find context for understanding these gaps, as the report examines both the changes in the performance of Black and White students and the changes in the Black-White achievement gap over time.

Complaints about group projects in class

If you've assigned group projects in your class, you've probably also had complaints about them. Seniors and recent graduates on a panel at the Teaching Professor conference all agreed they were problematic. The article in CHE provides a link to this piece by Oakley, Brent, Felder & Elhajj, (2004) on improving the design and assessment of group projects--everyone agrees there have to be individual performance measures included.

NAEP at a glance

"The Nation's Report Card: 2007 At A Glance" is a new brochure that provides an overview of the NAEP activities surrounding the math, reading, and writing assessments. "At a Glance" summarizes the results of each 2007 assessment for the nation, states, and selected urban districts [Las Vegas is not one of the 11 urban districts reported--pm].

The results presented in "At a Glance" examine the change over time in average scores for all students, in addition to the changes in the gender and racial/ethnic achievement gaps observed in the 2007 assessments. The brochure pairs these results with instructive graphics to help you understand the findings. "At a Glance" also notes how many students at each grade level participated in the assessments and breaks down percentages of certain demographic details of participants, including race/ethnicity, school type, and percentage of accommodated students. Find the "At a Glance" publication at
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2009486

NCES issues new report on adult literacy

"Basic Reading Skills and the Literacy of the America's Least Literate Adults: Results from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) Supplemental Studies."

The 2003 NAAL assessed the English literacy skills of a nationally representative sample of 18,500 U.S. adults (age 16 and older) residing in private households. NAAL is the first national assessment of adult literacy since the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS). The NAAL project comprised four assessment components: the core literacy tasks, the main literacy assessment, the Fluency Addition to NAAL (FAN), and the Adult Literacy Supplemental Assessment (ALSA). Results from the main literacy assessment are reported as averages and as the percentage of adults in each of four literacy levels: Below Basic, Basic, Intermediate, and Proficient. This report focuses on results from the FAN and the ALSA.

The Adult Literacy Supplemental Assessment (ALSA) was administered to adults unable to successfully answer the core literacy tasks. Instead of completing the main literacy assessment, these adults completed the ALSA, which gathered information about their letter-reading, word-reading, word-identification, and basic comprehension skills.

The Fluency Addition to NAAL (FAN) measures the basic reading skills of America's adults. The FAN was administered to all adults who participated in the NAAL project following the completion of the main literacy assessment or the supplemental assessment.

Key Findings:

* Seven million adults, or about 3% of the adult population, could not complete even the most basic literacy tasks in the main assessment and were given the supplemental assessment.

* Nearly 1 in 5 adults in the nonliterate in English group had a high school diploma or GED. Among them, more than half (representing roughly 600,000 adults) had earned their high school degree in the US.

* For those for whom Spanish is a first language, a delay in learning English is associated with low basic reading skills. Those who learned English before age 11 had basic reading scores similar to average native English speakers (97 words read correctly per minute); however, for those who learned English after age 21, average scores were 35 points (or about one-third) lower. Due to the correlational nature of these data, it is impossible to make causal attributions, i.e., to say that a delay in learning English causes low basic reading skills.

* Adults who took the main literary assessment were able to read, on average, 98 words correctly per minute (wpm), in comparison to 34 wpm by those in the supplemental assessment.

To view, download and print the report as a PDF file, please visit:
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2009481

Some positive results for the REDI program

The What Works Clearinghouse found this study met evidence standards and reports the findings.
This study examined whether the Head Start Research-based Developmentally Informed (REDI) program is more effective than the standard Head Start program at improving the language, emergent literacy, and social-emotional skills of preschoolers.
The study finds that students in the REDI group outperformed control students on one of three measures of language development (effect sizes ranged from –0.07 to 0.15) and two of three measures of emergent literacy skills (effect sizes ranged from 0.16 to 0.39).
In addition, REDI program students exhibited greater understanding of emotions, better social problem-solving skills, and higher levels of learning engagement than students in regular Head Start classrooms.

Research compares 1st grade math curricula

The National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance within the Institute of Education Sciences today released a report on the effectiveness of four math curricula. The "Achievement Effects of Four Early Elementary School Math Curricula: Findings from First Graders in 39 Schools" reports on the relative impacts of four math curricula on first-grade mathematics achievement. The curricula were selected to represent diverse approaches to teaching elementary school math in the United States. The four curricula are Investigations in Number, Data, and Space; Math Expressions; Saxon Math; and Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley Mathematics. First-grade math achievement was significantly higher in schools randomly assigned to Math Expressions or Saxon Math than in those schools assigned to Investigations in Number, Data, and Space or to Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley Mathematics. This study is being conducted as part of the National Assessment of Title I.

To view, download and print the report as a PDF file, please visit:
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/20094052/index.asp

Measuring Up 2008: National and State report cards on higher education

The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education has issued it fifth set of report cards on higher education for the nation (with international comparisons) and the individual states. In spite of some improvements, other nations are advancing more quickly than the United States in preparing students for and providing access to higher education. Nevada, in spite of improvements, is still performing abysmally.