This volume is intended for researchers, curriculum developers, policy makers, and classroom teachers who want comprehensive information on what students at grades 4, 8, and 12 (the grades assessed by NAEP) can and cannot do in mathematics. After two introductory chapters on the design of NAEP, the volume contains a chapter on the challenges in analyzing NAEP data at the item level followed by five chapters that report 2005 through 2013 student performance on specific assessment items. These chapters are organized by content area and then by topic (e.g., understanding of place value, knowledge of transformations, ability to use metric and U.S. systems of measurement) and thus provide baseline data on the proportion of students who are able to complete the mathematics tasks currently used in the upper elementary, middle, and high?school mathematics curriculum. Additional chapters focus on student reasoning, U.S. performance on international assessments, and using construct analysis rather than percent correct on clusters of items to understand student knowledge on specific mathematics topics. Several themes emerge from the volume. One is that while the rate of improvement in mathematics learning in grades 4 and 8 has slowed in recent years, it has slowed more on some topics than others. Another is that relatively minor changes in wording can have significant effects on student performance and thus it is difficult to be specific about what students can do without knowing exactly what questions they were asked. A third theme is that changes in performance over time can sometimes but not always be understood in terms of what students are taught. For example, there were substantial gains on several grade 4 items requiring understanding of fractions and that is probably because the amount of instruction on fractions in grades 3 and 4 has been increasing. In contrast, while relatively few twelfth?grade students have ever been good at factoring trinomials, performance on this skill seems to be decreasing. This suggests that while more students are completing advanced mathematics courses in high school, these courses are not helping in the area of factoring trinomials. Finally, there are limitations to using NAEP as a measure of student performance on the Common Core State Standards. To the extent that NAEP can be used, however, the NAEP data show a substantial gap between expectations and performance.

What are the risks and benefits of non-parental care for young children? What are the short- and long-term effects of academically vs. play-focused environments for learning? How and when should we teach reading? What are the purposes of Education? What is the best way to teach mathematics to children, from preschool and beyond? Contemporary Debates in Childhood Education and Development is a unique resource and reference work that brings together leading international researchers and thinkers, with divergent points of view, to discuss contemporary problems and questions in childhood education and developmental psychology. Through an innovative format whereby leading scholars each offer their own constructive take on the issue in hand, this book aims to inform readers of both sides of a variety of topics and in the process encourage constructive communication and fresh approaches. Spanning a broad spectrum of issues, this book covers: Phonic and whole language reading approaches The developmental effect of non-parental childcare The value of pre-school academic skill acquisition The most effective methods of teaching mathematics Standardized assessment – does it work? The role of electronic media and technology The pedagogical value of homework The value of parents’ reading to children. This book combines breadth of vision with cutting edge research and is a ‘must have’ resource for researchers, students and policy makers in the fields of education and child development.

Grounded in the best current knowledge, this book shows how to implement response to intervention (RTI) in middle and high school contexts. Detailed guidelines are presented for teaching reading comprehension, vocabulary, and other aspects of literacy across the content areas, and for providing effective interventions for students who require additional support. The authors describe RTI procedures that are specifically tailored to the needs of struggling adolescent learners and that take into account the challenges and logistics of secondary-level implementation. The volume features 26 reproducible tools for planning, assessment, progress monitoring, and multi-tiered instruction; the large-size format facilitates photocopying.

This CHOICE award winning author has teamed up with two national school change experts to write a comprehensive book on school change management. Everything you need to know on initiating and managing school change are covered: planning change, conditions for successful change, models for improvement, tools and strategies, understanding and using research data, implementing school initiatives, managing resources, getting student results and more. A comprehensive book covering all aspects of school district change management, evaluation, and improvement. Each chapter objectives are aligned with the new ELCC and ISLCC standards for university accreditation. Many federal and various state data sources are included. Provides a bend of theory and practical perspectives on how to implement and execute school change. Each chapter contains a comprehensive case study and exercises for practical application. Several supplemental resources are included in the appendices

A leading law review now offers a quality eBook edition. This first issue of 2012 features articles and essays from internationally recognized legal and education scholars, including an extensive Symposium on understanding education and law in the United States. Topics include economic structures in education, teaching patriotism, charter and Catholic schools, Amish one-room schools, minority students, empirical work on religious schools, federalism, equal opportunity, and higher-education accreditation. In addition, the issue includes articles by Clayton Gillette on municipal bankruptcy and federalism, and Steven Horowitz on copyright law's asymetry, as well as a comment on wartime waivers. The issue serves, in effect, as an extensive book on cutting-edge issues of educational law and policy in the United States by renowned researchers in the field. It is presented in modern ebook formatting and features active Tables of Contents; linked footnotes and URLs; linked cross-references; and legible graphs.

A high level of literacy in both print and digital media is required for negotiating most aspects of 21st-century life, including supporting a family, education, health, civic participation, and competitiveness in the global economy. Yet, more than 90 million U.S. adults lack adequate literacy. Furthermore, only 38 percent of U.S. 12th graders are at or above proficient in reading. Improving Adult Literacy Instruction synthesizes the research on literacy and learning to improve literacy instruction in the United States and to recommend a more systemic approach to research, practice, and policy. The book focuses on individuals ages 16 and older who are not in K-12 education. It identifies factors that affect literacy development in adolescence and adulthood in general, and examines their implications for strengthening literacy instruction for this population. It also discusses technologies for learning that can assist with multiple aspects of teaching, assessment,and accommodations for learning. There is inadequate knowledge about effective instructional practices and a need for better assessment and ongoing monitoring of adult students' proficiencies, weaknesses, instructional environments, and progress, which might guide instructional planning. Improving Adult Literacy Instruction recommends a program of research and innovation to validate, identify the boundaries of, and extend current knowledge to improve instruction for adults and adolescents outside school. The book is a valuable resource for curriculum developers, federal agencies such as the Department of Education, administrators, educators, and funding agencies.

In spite of No Child Left Behind and the support provided by Response To Intervention, significant numbers of students continue to struggle with literacy. This text addresses learning-related needs of individual students in addition to interventions for the challenges they face. Struggling readers represent many different ethnicities, socio-economic levels, languages, and dialects in any combination and possess an even wider variety of social, cultural, motivational, literacy, and real world experiences. Through the presentation of case studies, this book considers these factors and their influence on literacy development and suggests ways to adapt research-based instructional strategies and approaches, as well as classroom practices to address them. It also includes related recommended resources. The text appeals to the concerns of classroom teachers, reading specialists, and faculty in teacher education programs, as well as anyone looking for practical, research-based ways to further the literacy development of individuals who struggle to read.

Yes We Can: Improving Urban Schools through Innovative Educational Reform is a empirically-based book on urban education reform to not only proclaim that hope is alive for urban schools, but to also produce a body of literature that examines current practices and then offer practical implications for all involved in this arduous task. This book is filled with real-world strategies to implement in your quest to inspire and bring about reform. Additionally, we hope that you garner hope from the school personnel, school campuses, and school resources used as examples within the body of this work. We offer this book to all stakeholders who find themselves associated with urban schools: teachers, administrators, parents and even students. Consider this book an empirically based roadmap as you consider being a part of this transformation. We hope that it not only inspire you to adopt the“Yes We Can” spirit, but also empower you to be the beacon of light for urban students whose very future relies on people like you to keep the torch alive.