This article focuses on the use of a value-added approach for promoting school improvement. It presents yearly value-added estimates, analyses their stability over time, and discusses the contribution of this methodological approach for promoting school improvement programmes in the Portuguese system of evaluation. The value-added model is applied…

This article reports on Nevada's Reading First program and positions it as a source of reflection for future worldwide literacy reform efforts. Qualitative methodology was used for this analysis. Students' literacy achievement improved throughout the program until the last year of implementation. Students who remained at a Reading First…

This article focuses on the relation between student population characteristics and average test scores per school in the final grade of primary education from a dynamic perspective. Aggregated data of over 5,000 Dutch primary schools covering a 6-year period were used to study the relation between changes in school populations and shifts in mean…

This article analyzes the distribution of mathematics achievement among class, school, municipality, and state in Argentina. Data from the Year 2000, 6th-grade Primary School Census from the Minister of Education are analyzed using multilevel methodology. The results indicate that all levels of the education system are relevant and must be…

School effects on students' achievement are relatively small. Another approach, in which students' growth trajectories are the focal point of interest, is able to demonstrate more sizeable school effects. This approach is applied in a study into school compositional effects. The rationale of this study is that in Dutch primary education such…

The major aim of educational effectiveness research is to examine and explain school, class, and teacher differences with respect to relevant educational criteria. Until now, in the large majority of studies, language and mathematics scores were used as a criterion. In the present study, the educational track students choose at the start of…

Examines the effectiveness and mobility of two academic year cohorts (1995-96 and 1996-97) of teachers in 37 restructured elementary schools in Memphis, Tennessee, compared with those in 63 nonrestructured schools. Finds significantly greater gains in teacher effectiveness for only one restructured schools cohort (1995-96) compared with the…

Examines how organizational factors affect how inclusion reform policy is interpreted in Dutch primary schools during implementation. Finds that professional bureaucracy has a counterproductive influence on reform implementation. (Contains 35 references.) (PKP)

Discusses the significance of distributed leadership and management effectiveness; provides background for primary-school senior management teams research; reports headmasters' criteria for judging the effectiveness of senior management teams; reports findings from case studies of four senior management teams; discusses an inductively derived…

Statistical analysis of the relationships between three schooling outcomes and family background in 13 Latin American countries employing data from 1996 study. Finds that while the relationship between schooling outcomes and family background varies among countries, the most effective schools share similar characteristics, for example, high levels…

A study examined the relationship among school, class, teacher, and student characteristics in Dutch elementary schools. Results of multilevel analysis of data from 7,410 eighth graders and 1,714 teachers in 567 schools found a consistent teaching approach irrelevant to achievement levels. Student socioethnic background seemed most important.…

Examines effects of teacher behaviors and classroom organization on 2,128 pupils' progress in mathematics in UK primary schools participating in a math intervention program. Using multilevel modeling techniques, finds that teacher behaviors could explain between 60 and 70 percent of pupils' progress on numeracy tests. (Contains 35 references.)…

In one study, reading comprehension data for 62, 739 students from an Accelerated Reader learning information system was merged with the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS) teacher-effects database. Results show that teachers should have students read as much as possible, gradually increasing books' challenge level. (Contains 115…

An evaluation of the Primary Education Quality Improvement Project in Indonesia illustrates that combining the knowledge base and methodology of educational effectiveness research and cost-effectiveness analysis provides fruitful possibilities for future theoretical/practical developments in both approaches. PEQIP positively affected student…

Presents findings of a study testing Creemers' model of educational effectiveness (stressing learning time and opportunity), using data from an evaluative study in mathematics involving 30 schools, 56 classes, and 1,051 pupils in Cyprus. Influences on pupils' achievement were multilevel; classrooms' net effect was higher than that of schools.…