Achievement Gaps: How do state standards, assessments, curriculum influence acheivement? - Access related research titles from the ECS Research Studies Database. Links embedded in titles will take you to each study's major findings and recommendations....

Achievement Growth: International and U.S. State Trends in Student Performance - To find out whether the United States is narrowing the international education gap, this report estimates learning gains over the period between 1995 and 2009 for 49 countries from most of the developed and some of the newly developing parts of the world. The report also examines changes in student performance in 41 states within the United States, allowing the authors to compare these states with each other as well as with the 48 other countries. (PEPG, July 2012)...

Motivation, Engagement, and Student Voice - The authors review research on achievement motivation, school engagement, and student voice and highlight what works. They conclude that fostering student voice—empowering youth to express their opinions and influence their educational experiences so that they feel they have a stake in the outcomes—is one of the most powerful tools schools have to increase learning. (Jobs for the Future, 2012)...

Housing Costs, Zoning, and Access to High-Scoring Schools - This paper explores potential explanations for school inequality, including large gaps in housing costs, which are correlated with exclusionary zoning laws. The paper demonstrates that limiting the development of inexpensive housing in affluent neighborhoods fuels economic and racial segregation and contributes to significant differences in school performance across the metropolitan landscape. The author argues that in order to promote individual social mobility and broader economic security, public policies should address housing market regulations that prohibit all but the very affluent from enrolling their children in high-scoring public schools. (Brookings Institution, April 2012)...

America's Youth: Transitions to Adulthood - This report examines numerous aspects of the lives of youth and young adults, ages 14 to 24, in the United States over the last several decades. The report features status and trend data from multiple surveys on the distribution of youth and their family structure; on school-, employment-, and health-related factors; and on future plans. (National Center for Education Statistics, Dec 2011)...

Nation's Report Card--Findings in Brief: Reading and Mathematics--2011 - This brief report summarizes the major findings from the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading and mathematics assessments. The assessments were administered at grades 4 and 8, and the report includes information on students in public and private schools in the nation as well as public school students in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Department of Defense schools. (NCES, November 2011)...

Progress Lags in High School, Especially for Advanced Achievers: State Test Score Trends Through 2008-09, Part 5 - While high school scores on state English language arts and math tests have risen since 2002 in most states, new data show smaller proportions of states making gains in high school compared with 4th and 8th grades. The data, published in the Center on Education Policy’s new report also show a striking lack of progress and widening gaps at the advanced level in many states. The study also reveals a lack of progress among high school students at the advanced achievement level. (Jennifer McMurrer and Nancy Kober, Center on Education Policy, October 2011)...

The Nation's Report Card: NAEP 2009--Year in Review - This report shows all reports for the 2009 NAEP mathematics, reading, science and High School Transcript Study reports. It is a compilation of executive summaries from the reports, and includes results for the nation and participating states and districts for NAEP 2009. (National Center for Education Statistics, September 2011)...

Breaking Schools' Rules: A Statewide Study of How School Discipline Relates to Students' Success and Juvenile Justice Involvement - The Council of State Governments' Justice Center and the Public Policy Research Institute at Texas A&M University conducted a statewide study of nearly 1 million Texas public secondary school students, followed for at least six years. Among the most startling findings are that the majority of students were suspended or expelled between seventh and twelfth grade. Also found in the study: (1) When students are suspended or expelled, the likelihood that they will repeat a grade, not graduate, and/or become involved in the juvenile justice system increases significantly; (2) African-American students and students with educational disabilities were suspended and expelled at especially high rates. (CSG Justice Center, July 2011....

Is Achievement Improving and Are Gaps Narrowing for Title I Students? State Test Score Trends Through 2008-09, Part 4 - The Center on Education Policy compared achievement trends since 2002 on state reading and mathematics tests for Title I students and for students not participating in Title I. They also examined whether achievement gaps had narrowed between Title I and non-Title I students. Key findings include: (1) Achievement on state reading and math tests have improved; (2) Gaps between Title I and non-Title I students have narrowed more often than widened; (2) When gaps narrowed it was most often because achievement improved at a faster rate for Title I students than non-Title I. (Center on Education Policy, August 2011)...

The Nation's Report Card: Geography 2010--National Assessment of Educational Progress at Grades 4, 8 and 12 - The average score of fourth-graders on the NAEP geography assessment improved in 2010 compared to 2001. The scores for eighth- and twelfth-graders showed no statistically significant changes since 2001. (National Center for Education Statistics, 2011)...

When Students Repeat Grades or are Transferred Out of School: What Does It Mean for Education Systems? - Does repeating a year in school help students? Not according to this OECD analysis. Grade repetition does not happen in Finland and Korea, the best performing countries in the PISA tests. Countries where students repeat grades tend to have worse results overall. Students pay the price in terms of losing networks of friends and facing negative perceptions in new schools. Transferring students tends to be associated with socio-economic segregation in school systems. (OECD Publishing, July 2011) ...

How Do Some Students Overcome Their Socio-Economic Background? - So what helps some students to overcome their social background and achieve high scores in school? One key ingredient associated with resilience is spending more time in class. (OECD, June 2011)...

The State of Proficiency: How Student Proficiency Rates Vary Across States, Subjects and Grades Between 2002 and 2010 - The purpose of this study is to shine some light on the limitations of using proficiency rates based on inconsistent and arbitrary "passing scores" to make judgments about educational effectiveness. (Sarah Durant, Michael Dahlin, Deborah Adkins and G. Gage Kingsbury, Kingbury Center at Northwest Evaluation Association, June 2011)...

The Nation's Report Card: U.S. History 2010 - In comparison to the last assessment in 2006, average scores in 2010 were higher at grade 8 and not significantly different at grades 4 and 12. At grade 4, the lowest performing students made the greatest gains from 1994 to 2010. Gains for Black students from 1994 to 2010 contributed to a narrowing of the achievement gaps at grades 4 and 8 while gains for Hispanic students were evident at grade 4. You can also access an executive summary of the report. (NCES, June 2011)...

The Nation's Report Card: Science - This report presents results of the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in science at grades 4, 8, and 12. National results for each of the three grades are based on representative samples of public and private school students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the Department of Defense schools. (National Center for Education Statistics, January 2011)...

The Nation’s Report Card: Mathematics 2011 -- Trial Urban District Assessment Results at Grades 4 and 8 - This report from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) presents results from the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) in mathematics. Representative samples of fourth- and eighth-grade public school students from 21 urban districts participated in the 2011 assessment. (National Center for Education Statistics, 2011)...

The Nation’s Report Card: Reading 2011 -- Trial Urban District Assessment Results at Grades 4 and 8 - This report from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) presents results from the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA) in reading. Representative samples of fourth- and eighth-grade public school students from 21 urban districts participated in the 2011 assessment. (National Center for Education Statistics, 2011)...

Shut Out of the Military: Today's High School Education Doesn't Mean You're Ready for Today's Army - This report shows that the military is turning away high percentages of applicants who—despite being high school graduates, physically fit, and law-abiding—lack the basic reading, math, science and problem-solving skills needed to serve in the armed forces. This waste of human capital threatens our national security, and paints a troubling picture of our K-12 public school systems’ ability to prepare children for opportunities in the military and beyond. The greatest threat to America’s national security comes from no enemy without but from our own failure to protect, invest in, and educate all of our children. State-by-state data is included. (Education Trust, December 2010)...

State Test Score Trends through 2008-09, Part 2: Slow and Uneven Progress in Narrowing Gaps - After eight years of implementing the No Child Left Behind Act and other school reforms, how much progress have states, school districts and schools made in lifting achievement for students from all backgrounds and closing achievement gaps? The authors of this study felt four main conclusions emerged from this study: (1) Achievement gaps are large and persistent; (2) every major student group has made gains in math and reading tests but gaps have not always narrowed; (3) gaps on student tests have often narrowed since 2002. Gap trends vary based on student group and indicator of achievement examined; (4) at the current rates of progress it would take many years to close most gaps. (Center on Education Policy, December 2010) ...

The Nation's Report Card: Grade 12 Reading and Mathematics 2009, National and Pilot State Results - Nationally representative samples of 12th-graders from 1,670 public and private schools in the 11 states which participated in the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress. Approximately 52,000 students were assessed in reading and 49,000 were assessed in mathemathics. Average mathematics scores were higher in 2009 than in 2005. While the overall reading score was also higher in 2009 than in 2005, reading scores did not change significantly for Black, Hispanic, American Indian/Alaska Native students or for female students. (National Center for Education Statistics, 2010)...

Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Minorities - This report examines the educational progress and challenges of students in the U.S. by race/ethnicity. It shows that over time, the numbers of students of each race/ethnicity who have completed high school and continued their education in college have increased. Despite these gains, the rate of progress has varied, and differences persist among Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders, American Indians/Alaska Natives and students of two or more races in their performance on key indicators of educational performance. (National Center for Education Statistics, July 2010)...

The Rural Dropout Problem: An Invisible Achievement Gap - This report reviews high school dropout rates and related factors in rural high schools throughout 15 Southern and Southwestern states. These schools are in districts that are among the 800 rural districts with the highest student poverty rate nationally. Seventy-seven percent of the "Rural 800" districts and 87% of the students in them are in these 15 targeted states. These high-poverty rural school districts are more racially and ethnically diverse than all other rural school districts and all other districts of any kind. Nearly three in five of the students in these districts are people of color. (Rural School and Community Trust, May 2010)...

Gauging the Gaps: A Deeper Look at Student Achievement - Using state-level NAEP data, this brief illustrates the pitfalls in one-dimensional appraisals of achievement gaps. Analyzing the gaps from four perspectives is essential to gain a comprehensive, accurate picture of equity. (Anna Rowan, Daria Hall and Kati Haycock, The Education Trust, January 2010)...

ACT Profile Report--National: Graduating Class 2009 - This report provides information about the performance of graduating seniors who took the ACT as sophomores, juniors or seniors. The report focuses on performance, access, course selection, course rigor and college readiness. ACT encourages educators to focus on trends (3,5,10 years), not year-to-year changes. Such changes can represent normal, even expected, fluctuations. On the other hand, trend lines offer more insight into what is happening in a school, district or state. Further, ACT encourages educators to measure student performance in the context of college readiness measures--a measure that is much more meaningful and understandable than an average composite score for a group of students. (ACT, August 2009)...

2009 College-Bound Seniors--Total Group Profile Report - More than 1.5 million students in the class of 2009 took the SAT. Of those, 40% were minority students. In 1999 only 29.2% were minority students, reflecting the steady growth of minority participation rates. Hispanic students represent the largest minority group taking the test and now account for 13.5% of all test takers. The number of Hispanic testers over 10 years has more than doubled. Females comprised 53.5% of the 2009 test-takers. More than one-third of the test-takers reported their parents' highest level of education as high school or less. (The College Board, August 2009)...

Lost Opportunity: A 50 State Report on the Opportunity to Learn in America--National Summary Report - Analysis of state-collected education data reveals that 84% of states fail to provide students access to a moderately proficient public education system. The study analyzed student performance data reported by state departments of education to determine both the quality of and access to instruction provided across the United States. The results clearly show minority and low-income students have only half the opportunity to learn in our public schools as their White non-Latino peers. (Schott Foundation for Public Education, May 2009)...