This study tests a hypothesized learning progression for the concept of energy. It looks at 14 specific ideas under the categories of (i) Energy Forms and Transformations; (ii) Energy Transfer; (iii) Energy Dissipation and Degradation; and (iv) Energy Conservation. It then examines students' growth of understanding within each of these ideas at…

Large scale assessment is conducted at different class levels for various purposes such as identifying student success in education, observing the impacts of educational reforms on student achievement, assessment, selection, and placement. It is expected that these tests and their items are used in education do not display different traits with…

This research brief is Part III of a four-part study of decentralization in Houston Independent School District (HISD). This part examines the impact of decentralization on student outcomes. In hopes of improving student performance, HISD implemented decentralization throughout the 1990s (see Part I of this project for a detailed discussion of the…

This "Stated Briefly" report is a companion piece that summarizes the results of another report of the same name. This study examines the accuracy of performance ratings from the Framework for Leadership (FFL), Pennsylvania's tool for evaluating the leadership practices of principals and assistant principals. The study analyzed four key…

This study estimates the effect of one year of Fusion Reading implementation, a multistrategy intervention, builds on the work of the Strategic Instruction Model's Learning Strategies Curriculum and Xtreme Reading by integrating some of the same strategies (e.g., paraphrasing, visual imagery, and self-questioning for information acquisition;…