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Private school choice options are being proposed and adopted in numerous states across the country. As of the spring of 2019, 62 private school choice programs were in operation in 29 states and the District of Columbia, serving more than 400,000 children. Although growth in private school choice programs and enrollment has been considerable over the past decade, the percentage of private schools participating in school choice options varies considerably by program. Understanding how program design impacts the supply of private schools participating in these programs will be critical for policymakers as they work to create and expand education choice options for families. This report considers whether certain regulations governing school choice programs reduce specialization and diversity in the supply of private schools that participate. Expanding on the prior analysis of the impact of regulations in three locations, the authors chart how schools self-identify prior to and after switching into private school choice program environments in each of the five locations. The authors found that private school leaders in all five locations are more likely to classify their schools as less specialized than they were prior to entering the programs. The authors also found evidence to suggest that more homogenization occurred in more highly regulated voucher programs. These findings suggest a potential homogenizing effect of regulations on school supply, limiting the diversity of the private school market. These findings also suggest policymakers should carefully weigh the costs of regulating private school choice programs, as overregulation could reduce specialization and diversity of school supply in a given school choice program, limiting the options that are available to families.

Effectively meeting the needs of an increasingly diverse population of students presents challenges for educators across the United States, including the Texas and Southeast Comprehensive Center regions. Increasingly rigorous achievement expectations must be supported with flexible, accessible curricula, offering multiple pathways to success in order to secure opportunities for all children. Key points of this briefing paper include the following: (1) Multi-tier systems of support offer a research-based approach to addressing the myriad needs of youth struggling with school success; and (2) Application of the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can make curriculum and instruction both accessible and engaging for all learners, resulting in increased opportunities for learning success. The success of any public education reform effort will be tied, at least in part, to the ability to address appropriately the academic and social-behavior needs of diverse learners. By redefining the focus from one of "fixing students" to one of providing high-quality education that is responsive to individual needs (Riele, p. 141) the system will invariably improve experiences and outcomes for all students.

A central argument for school choice is that families value the freedom to exercise choice and can make wise decisions. This principle may underlie why lottery-based school evaluations, which exploit over-subscription due to excess demand, have almost always reported positive or zero achievement effects. This paper reports on a striking empirical counterexample to these results. We evaluate the Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP), a school voucher plan providing public funds for disadvantaged students to attend private schools of their choice. We exploit random assignment of LSP vouchers at oversubscribed private schools to estimate the program's effects on test scores. LSP participation substantially reduces academic achievement: attendance at an LSP-eligible private school lowers math scores by 0.4 standard deviations and increases the likelihood of a failing math score by 50 percent. Voucher effects for reading, science and social studies are also negative and large. Participating private schools charge below-average tuition, and the program's negative math effects are concentrated among participating schools with lower tuition. Negative voucher effects may be due in part to selection of low-quality private schools into the program. [Original report was published in December 2015. This report was previously circulated as "School Vouchers and Student Achievement: First-Year Evidence from the Louisiana Scholarship Program."]

In 2005, hurricanes Katrina and Rita forced many children to relocate across the Southeast. While schools quickly enrolled evacuees, receiving families worried about the impact of evacuees on non-evacuee students. Data from Houston and Louisiana show that, on average, the influx of evacuees moderately reduced elementary math test scores in Houston. We reject linear-in-means models of peer effects and find evidence of a highly non-linear but monotonic model--student achievement improves with high ability and worsens with low ability peers. Moreover, exposure to undisciplined evacuees increased native absenteeism and disciplinary problems, supporting a "bad apple" model in behavior.

I examine academic performance and college going for public school students affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Students who are forced to switch schools due to the hurricanes experience sharp declines in test scores in the first year following the hurricane. However, by the second and third years after the disaster, Katrina evacuees displaced from Orleans Parish appear to benefit from the displacement, experiencing a 0.15 standard deviation improvement in scores. The test score gains are concentrated among students whose initial schools were in the lowest quintile of the test score distribution and among students who leave the New Orleans MSA. Katrina evacuees from suburban areas and Rita evacuees (from the Lake Charles area) eventually recover most of the ground lost during 05-06 but do not experience long term gains relative to their pre-Katrina test scores. High school age Orleans evacuees have higher college enrollment rates than their predecessors from the same high schools. Meanwhile, Katrina evacuees from the suburbs experience a 3.5 percentage point drop in their rate of enrollment in four year colleges. Those evacuees do not to make up for the decline in the subsequent two years. Later cohorts of suburban New Orleans evacuees are unaffected. The results suggest that for students in the lowest performing schools, the long term gains to achievement from switching schools can more than offset even substantial costs of disruption.

By 2012, all of the states in this study had started implementing new or revised teacher and leader evaluation systems. The systems include many and varying updates. In some cases, the updates were designed to meet conditions for a state's "Race to the Top" grant. In others, the updates were made to meet conditions for a state's waiver for certain provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, currently known as "No Child Left Behind"). The following profiles examine one particular aspect of states' new teacher and leader evaluation systems: how states integrate the higher expectations for student learning inherent in their new college- and career-readiness standards within the systems' requirements for continuous improvement of teachers and principals. Essentially, these profiles ask, what measures within state teacher and leader evaluation systems generate information about teacher and principal performance in terms of their implementation of, support for and effect on student learning of the new standards. For trends across the states in the design of their systems, successes, challenges, types of support needed to move this work forward, and practitioner experiences with putting the evaluations into practice, see the accompanying "Cross-State Findings Report" (ED559248).

The following profiles address how the state departments of education are helping educators prepare for and implement their states' new college- and career-readiness standards and aligned assessments, through professional learning. SREB researchers examined each state's major professional development efforts around its new standards in order to understand the approach and get a sense of the major efforts of each state. SREB researchers did not seek to compile an exhaustive list of all of the professional learning that departments provide. These profiles provide a descriptive overview of each state's efforts in this area. For trends across the states in their efforts, successes, challenges, types of support needed to move this work forward, and practitioner reflections on their own professional learning and experiences of implementation on the ground, see the accompanying "Cross-State Findings Report" (ED559248).

By 2012, all of the states in this study had started implementing new or revised teacher and leader evaluation systems. There are many and varying updates to these systems, and some of them have been made to meet conditions for a state's federal "Race to the Top" (RTT) grant. Other updates have been made to meet conditions for a state's waiver for certain provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, currently known as "No Child Left Behind"). The following profiles examine one particular aspect of states' new teacher and leader evaluation systems: how states integrate the higher expectations for student learning inherent in the Common Core within the systems' requirements for continuous improvement of teachers and principals. Essentially, these profiles ask, what measures within state teacher and leader evaluation systems generate information that sharpens understanding of teacher and principal performance in terms of their implementation of, support for, and effect on student learning of the Common Core?

All of the 15 states in this study have recently been involved in school accountability system reform. Since 2011, the states have taken advantage of a federal program to give them flexibility around certain accountability requirements of the "No Child Left Behind Act" of 2001 (NCLB), the most recent reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). States requesting ESEA flexibility waivers must meet federal guidelines as part of the changes they make to their statewide accountability systems. While some of the changes states make vary, all states must adopt certain policies the U.S. Department of Education considers fundamental to school accountability reform. These policies include, among others, college- and career-ready standards and assessments, Common Core-aligned alternate assessments for students with severe cognitive disabilities, English language proficiency (ELP) standards and assessments for English learners (ELs), and educator effectiveness systems that incorporate the use of student performance data. States are working hard to integrate the work of such complex reforms. These profiles examine how states' new statewide accountability systems incorporate measures that hold schools accountable for student learning of the Common Core. The profiles also explain how states' accountability reporting for the use of federal Title III funds to serve ELs incorporates such measures. In each profile, the accountability measures are listed, followed by what is known about the extent of their alignment to the Common Core.

Earning college credit in high school matters to students and parents. Students who earn college credits by taking a college-level course while in high school are more likely to enter college and succeed. Through these experiences, students become familiar with college expectations, academic behaviors, and habits of mind; get a head start on postsecondary education and gain academic momentum toward a degree or credential; and begin to develop a college identity. Additionally, just as states should know whether students are progressing toward and reaching certain benchmarks of college and career readiness, they should also know whether high school students are exceeding those goals by taking the advanced courses that further solidify their transition to college and put them a step ahead once they arrive. Policymakers and educators who value this indicator for key student subgroups can drive improvements in outcomes for low-income and minority students who are historically less likely to earn a postsecondary degree or credential. There is clear evidence that earning college credit prior to postsecondary enrollment is a predictor of college success. As a result, both Achieve and Jobs for the Future have encouraged states to incorporate into their accountability systems measures related to earning college credit while in high school. This paper provides research-based guidance to states contemplating whether and how to incorporate indicators of students earning college credit during high school into their accountability systems, including through their accountability formulas and public reporting. The first section describes the three most common models of earning college credit in high school: Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), and dual enrollment. The second section describes the research that shows the positive relationship between earning college credit while in high school and later college success. The third section looks at the landscape of current state policies on incorporating college course taking into accountability systems and highlights different state approaches in both accountability formulas and public reporting. The paper concludes with a set of recommendations for states interested in valuing students earning college credit while in high school in state accountability systems and provides concrete steps for ensuring that those policies serve all students.

This paper explores what happens to similar groups of children educated in different school districts. In this case, the "twins" in the study are groups of students who live in the same state in similar geographies and who share certain demographic characteristics. For this report, "twin districts" have very similar sizes and they have the following in common: (1) The proportion of students who are from low-income families; (2) The proportion of students who have limited English proficiency or are English language learners; and (3) The proportion of students who receive instruction through individualized educational programs. The study's twin districts, however, differ in terms of per-pupil spending and revenues. The goal of this paper was to study twin districts and use the data culled to provide recommendations for how districts can best leverage their school funding investments--in other words, achieve a bigger bang for their educational buck. Using data available from the U.S. Department of Education, the authors compiled a dataset with over 7,000 K-12 districts from over 15,000 local education agencies across the county. All data on spending and achievement was from the 2009-10 school year. In this analysis, they identified 424 pairs of districts to analyze from this larger dataset. Given that tests and proficiency definitions differ across states, only twin districts within the same state are identified and compared. Additionally, the authors also completed interviews with 20 district superintendents from across the United States to discuss what control they have over their districts' spending and what spending constraints they face from outside governing bodies--the state, the federal government, and school boards. Based on their in-depth look at twin districts and their subsequent analysis of the data, the authors offer the following findings: (1) When it comes to education, spending does not always equal results; (2) There are significant funding inequities between demographically similar districts; and (3) Districts have limited control over their own expenditures. A table showing descriptive statistics for 424 sets of twins from the 2009-10 school year is appended. [For the accompanying report, "Return on Educational Investment: 2014. A District-by-District Evaluation of U.S. Educational Productivity" (2014), see ED561093.]

The cost of attending college has risen sharply over the last 40 years. Although more credit and grant aid have been made available to students, there are still major gaps between aid and the cost of attendance for many students in the United States, all of whom are left to figure out whether they can afford the remaining costs associated with attending college. Given that people with similar financial means may make different decisions about what they can and cannot afford to pay for college, it is difficult to identify a universal definition of affordability. Nevertheless, examining college cost, student financial need, and progress toward degree completion trends in concert with one another can help illuminate patterns of when college is unaffordable. This paper will develop a definition of college affordability by examining the literature on student financial need and student aid interventions as well as student data collected by MDRC to identify important indicators of college affordability and the lack thereof, which may ultimately help or impede college persistence and graduation. This paper provides a review of the literature on the relationships between unmet financial need and progress toward degree completion as well as a review of the findings from studies that show the effects of financial aid intervention on student persistence and completion. The paper then examines MDRC's experimental data from the Performance-Based Scholarship (PBS) Demonstration, a study spanning six states around the United States. Ultimately, this paper offers several puzzle pieces that fit together to help identify the students for whom college may not be affordable. It also offers recommendations for how policymakers in various sectors can respond to the affordability issues faced by the low-income students they serve and want to help to achieve success in college. [This paper was written with Melvin Gutierrez and Jessica Gingrich.]

State longitudinal data systems can be a powerful tool to support student success and spur equity-minded improvement throughout state education systems, but state policymakers must ensure that students' information is safe and secure. In a case study looking at Louisiana's efforts to secure student data, this profile illuminates some of the unintended consequences of well-intentioned privacy policies that fail to appropriately account for the complexity of state longitudinal data systems. The paper, authored by Rachel Anderson, Director of Policy and Practice at the Data Quality Campaign, offers recommendations for state policymakers to pursue student privacy and security measures in a way that strengthens the goals of student data systems and promotes student success, including: (1) Framing data privacy holistically as a component of data use; (2) Understanding the legislative landscape and engaging diverse stakeholders to understand needs and the likely impact of legislation; and (3) Providing clarify and supports for implementation.

On February 29, 2008, Gov. Bobby Jindal presented the Louisiana Legislature with a proposed budget allocating $10 million for a school choice initiative that would enable parents in New Orleans to send their children to the school of their choice, including private schools, with state-funded scholarships. Leaders of the public school establishment went on record to oppose the initiative, spreading fear that providing parents more educational options would take away from public schools. But, as this report demonstrates, Louisiana has a rich history of offering a wide array of choices, including private and religious options, through public programs, including in education. These choices add to--rather than subtract from--the opportunities available to its citizens. In this paper, the authors include more detail about Louisiana's choice-based programs. These profiles include short descriptions of each program, when the programs were established and data on the number of participants and dollars expended or allocated (when available). The first set of current programs described are those funded solely or primarily by the state. The second includes programs funded by the federal government but directed by state and local agencies. Not included are programs administered and funded solely or in large part by the federal government, such as Pell grants and housing vouchers. Thus, the programs described in this paper actually undercount the broad scope of services received by Louisianans through choice-based programs. (Contains 52 endnotes.)

This paper examines the relationship between a school's grade configuration and student performance in Louisiana. Student performance was measured by academic achievement (standardized test scores) and student persistence (attendance, suspensions, expulsions, and dropouts). Elementary schools, middle schools, secondary schools, and combination (K-12) schools were examined using grade-level data for grades 6, 7, and 9-12. Also considered were school socioeconomic status (SES) (percentage of students receiving free lunch) and school size (size of the grade-level under consideration). Results indicate that sixth- and seventh-grade students performed better in elementary and K-12 schools than in middle or secondary schools, in terms of both achievement and persistence. Students in K-12 schools performed as well as those in elementary schools overall and performed better in some cases (grade 6 and high poverty). For grades 9-12, the K-12 school was more beneficial to students than the traditional secondary school, particularly in the area of student persistence or conduct. With regard to academic achievement, secondary schools did not differ significantly from K-12 schools regardless of school size or SES. School size did appear to impact 11th- and 12th-grade student persistence more within the secondary school environment than that of the K-12 school. Contains 34 references and 29 data tables and figures. (Author/SV)

Randomized experiments are often considered the strongest designs to study the impact of educational interventions. Perhaps the most prevalent class of designs used in large scale education experiments is the cluster randomized design in which entire schools are assigned to treatments. In cluster randomized trials (CRTs) that assign schools to treatments within a set of school districts, the statistical power of the test for treatment effects depends on the within district school-level intraclass correlation (ICC). Hedges and Hedberg recently computed within-district ICC values in eleven states using three-level models (students in schools in districts) that pooled results across all the districts within each state. While values from these analyses are useful when working with a representative sample of districts, they may be misleading for other samples of districts because the magnitude of ICCs appears to be related to district size. To plan studies with small or nonrepresentative samples of districts, better information are needed about the relation of within-district school-level ICCs to district size. Our objective is to explore the relation between district size and within-district ICCs to provide reference values for math and reading achievement for grades 3-8 by district size, poverty level, and urbanicity level. These values are not derived from pooling across all districts within a state as in previous work, but are based on the direct calculation of within-district school-level ICCs for each school district. We use mixed models to estimate over 7,000 district-specific ICCs for math and reading achievement in eleven states and for grades 3-8. We then perform a random effects meta-analysis on the estimated within-district ICCs. Our analysis is performed by grade and subject for different strata designated by district size (number of schools), urbanicity, and poverty rates. [This paper was published in: "Evaluation Review" v38 n6 p546-582 Dec 2014.]

This paper revisits existing experimental work on Teach For America (TFA) and extends it by examining treatment effects across the distribution of student achievement. TFA is a rapidly expanding teacher preparation program that currently serves over half a million students in low-income districts across the country. Previous research results did not have notable variation by subgroup. Estimates were inaccurate due to the treatment of a non-response code as a valid response value. Revised estimates confirm positive effects for math and not reading, but show that TFA teachers were especially effective for African American students, but not Hispanics, and for females, but not males. In addition to examining differences across subgroup, others have argued that a distributional approach is important for thoroughly investigating policy interventions because examinations focused solely on mean impacts might obscure large countervailing differences in program impacts that offset one another. To deepen the understanding of the effect of TFA on student achievement, this study investigates distributional as well as mean impacts. New distributional results reveal TFA teachers are especially beneficial for the upper-middle of the distribution of math achievement, but not the upper and lower tails. Tables and figures are appended.

In "The Louisiana Recovery School District: Lessons for the Buckeye State," the Thomas B. Fordham Institute criticizes local urban governance structures and presents the decentralized, charter-school-driven Recovery School District (RSD) in New Orleans as a successful model for fiscal and academic performance. Absent from the review is any consideration of the chronic under-funding and racial history of New Orleans public schools before Hurricane Katrina, and no evidence is provided that a conversion to charter schools would remedy these problems. The report also misreads the achievement data to assert the success of the RSD, when the claimed gains may be simply a function of shifting test standards. The report also touts the replacement of senior teachers with new and non-traditionally prepared teachers, but provides no evidence of the efficacy of this practice. Additionally, the report claims public support for the reforms, but other indicators--never addressed in the report--reveal serious concerns over access, equity, performance, and accountability. Ultimately, the report is a polemic advocating the removal of public governance and the replacement of public schools with privately operated charter networks. It is thin on data and thick on claims, and should be read with great caution by policymakers in Ohio and elsewhere. (Contains 51 notes.) [This paper reviews the following document: "The Louisiana Recovery School District: Lessons for the Buckeye State" (ED528943).]

Over the last four years, the Afterschool Alliance and MetLife Foundation have worked together to identify exemplary, and often lesser-known afterschool programs across the nation. For the past two years, efforts have focused on finding innovative afterschool programs serving middle school students. This focus was developed to address the need for new and innovative ways to engage adolescents during a crucial juncture in their lives, when they are still developing as both students and individuals. Some middle schoolers are mature for their age and ready for the transition to high school, while others still yearn for the comfort of elementary school. The question beckons: How do you deal with a population of students who are rapidly growing as individuals but are still unsure of their identity among peers and their strengths in the classroom? In 2011, the partners attempted to answer this question by identifying afterschool programs that are successfully engaging middle school students and toeing the line between providing a safe, nurturing environment while also affording youth a space to explore new interests and drive their own learning. The Afterschool Alliance and MetLife Foundation accomplished this through a competitive awards program that attracted more than 300 nominations from programs nationwide. With the help of external reviewers, the pool of nominees was narrowed down to 20 programs to be featured in issue briefs. Five of those programs were then selected as MetLife Foundation Afterschool Innovators. This year, each of the MetLife Foundation Afterschool Innovators received a $10,000 award to sustain and expand their work. This paper features in-depth case studies of the five programs selected as 2011 MetLife Foundation Afterschool Innovator Award winners which include: (1) Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools (New Orleans, LA); (2) Higher Achievement (Washington, D.C.); (3) Urban Arts/Project Phoenix (Oakland, CA); (4) 21st Century PASOS (Gettysburg, PA); and (5) America SCORES (Chicago, IL). Hopefully, these case studies will help other programs across the country learn from each program's achievements and apply the lessons learned by these Innovators in their own programs.

The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) published a series of case studies from 28 states to showcase examples of how ARRA EETT ("American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Enhancing Education Through Technology") grant funds have impacted teaching and learning. SETDA collected data for the case studies through a variety of mechanisms, including a detailed survey of the participating Local Education Agencies (LEAs), personal interviews with grant managers and teachers, and reviews of state and local program evaluations. The case studies in this paper highlight powerful examples of innovations resulting from the federal state/local partnerships created by the EETT program. They illustrate what can happen when "seed money" in the form of federal grants is leveraged by states, local school districts, and individual schools. Teachers and students across the country continue to benefit from these innovative programs as shown by higher formative and standardized test scores, increased technology literacy and technology integration, improved access to both digital curriculum resources and project-based learning initiatives, and increased student engagement.

Governors and other state leaders have shown an increasing interest in creating new models of teacher compensation that would reward educators based on their contributions to student learning. To support this interest, the National Governors Association (NGA) hosted a policy academy focusing on that issue. The policy academy provided teams with assistance and advice from NGA Center staff, access to other experts and an opportunity to network with other states confronting similar issues and challenges. During the academy, state leadership teams recognized some common challenges, allowing them to learn from each other, share best practices and commit to some common principles that could guide their efforts. This paper looks at those discussions. (Contains 28 endnotes.)

Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (2002), there has been increased interest in using student achievement data (through standardized tests) to evaluate teacher effectiveness. Two U.S. Department of Education secretaries, Secretary Spellings and Secretary Duncan, have expressed interest in growth models and the need to improve the way teacher performance is evaluated. At the same time, there has been interest in creating longitudinal data systems so that student growth can be more accurately measured. The combined push for improvements in student assessments, teacher evaluation, and longitudinal student databases has led to the current educational agenda that lauds those systems that link student achievement to individual teachers. This paper describes four major value-added models (VAMs), concerns with VAMs as the "sole measure" of teacher effectiveness, some district and state examples, and other resources related to the issue of teacher effectiveness. (Contains 3 tables, 3 footnotes and 97 resources.)

This paper presents the appendices to the "High-Stakes Testing and Student Achievement: Problems for the No Child Left Behind Act" report. It contains the following appendices: (1) Example of Context for Assessing State-Level Stakes Sheet--Connecticut; (2) Example of Completed Rewards and Sanctions Worksheet--Connecticut; (3) Directions Given to Judges; (4) Data Collection Sheet; (5) Correlations and Scatter Plots--Threat Change and NAEP Gain; (6) Method for the Inclusion of Media in Portfolios; (7) Summary News Search: Massachusetts; (8) Summary of News Searches in Five Pilot States; and (9) Summary of New Search Rationale--Finalized System. (Contains 38 tables, 16 figures and 241 notes and references.) [For the full report, "High-Stakes Testing and Student Achievement: Problems for the No Child Left Behind Act," see ED531184. For executive summary, "High-Stakes Testing and Student Achievement: Problems for the No Child Left Behind Act. Executive Summary," see ED531535.]

As expectations rise for students to perform at higher levels, the question of how best to support student performance through resources becomes paramount. In determining new ways to better allocate resources, administrators must consider teacher input on what has/has not been effective in supporting increased student performance. Teachers (N=1,701) responded to a survey on effective resource-allocation practices and barriers to support student success in their schools and districts. Survey results imply that teachers are aware of how resources are allocated at both the school site and district level to improve student performance and appreciate opportunities to share their knowledge. Results also indicate that schools and districts implement innovative practices, such as increased technology, special instructional programs, and staff development, but not necessarily increased staffing allocations. Although reported innovations have been somewhat effective for all students, a number of barriers continue to limit how much improvement is achieved. The results help further the dialogue on how spending relates to student success and validate the use of a systemic approach to resource allocation. The study's focus on district and school resource-allocation practices within a state context provides a regional perspective pursued in relatively few studies on resource allocation. (Contains 6 tables.) (RT)

This study examines the relationship between parents' perceptions of certain attributes of their involvement in various aspects of their child's or children's school environment and their child's or children's academic achievement within that school. Parents and children from 132 schools in Louisiana participated in the School Analysis Model 2000 in this study. Data were collected using a variety of methods, including questionnaires for stakeholders, parents, and students. Parents were surveyed regarding their perceptions of six aspects of parental involvement: (1) parent and school relations; (2) administrative leadership; (3) school climate; (4) school culture; (5) curriculum and instruction; and (6) the Louisiana Public School and District Accountability System (LPSDAS). Findings indicated that how parents perceived the administrative leadership of the school, the curriculum and instruction of the school, and the school climate best predicted a school's performance score. Schools with more favorable climates had higher school performance scores. There were no significant relationships between how parents perceived their involvement and academic achievement, the poverty level of the school, or the school's location (urban, suburban, or rural). White parents had more agreeable perceptions of the total involvement than did black parents. Parents without a high school diploma had less agreeable perceptions of their total involvement than parents within greater educational levels. Parents who had graduated from a four-year college or university had more agreeable perceptions of their total involvement than parents at other educational levels. Appended is the parent questionnaire and an explanation of the questionnaire coding. (Contains 35 references.) (KB)

This paper examines the major influences of state minimum standards of pupil proficiency in reading, writing, and mathematics; state curriculum guides; basic skills testing; and a state-funded compensatory/remedial program on public schools in Louisiana since 1980. The state testing program is described in some detail. Its influence in the home is briefly noted, and its influence in the regular classroom is considered in sections devoted to classroom instruction, student assessment, staff development, and time and resources spent on testing. The influence of the compensatory program on lowest performing students is discussed. Finally, influences on school policy are considered, with sections on promotion/retention and use of test results. (MNS)

This paper reports on a research study designed, in part, to explore the expression of bureaucracy (or structural management) and culture (or symbolic management) in the work of eighteen elementary school principals in Louisiana. In addition, the study compares principals in nine of the schools categorized as "more effective" and nine categorized as "less effective," based on mean scores on the reading section of the Louisiana Basic Skills Test (LBST). Findings disclose an apparent reliance on bureaucratic procedures and externally defined purposes, and a sensitivity to adult (political) influences in the less effective schools. This contrasts with a use of process and symbols, a broad and internally forged definition of purpose, and a "child-as-client" orientation in the more effective schools. References are included. (TE)

This study used structural equation modeling and multilevel modeling approaches for purposes of simultaneous study of individual and group change patterns on three waves of two longitudinally assessed domains. This study illustrates a few of the dual approaches to the analysis of covariance structures as they relate to the same individual growth model and the same data. LISREL (structural equation modeling) and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) were used. The investigation studied whether individual change over time in mathematics and language differs from student to student and whether the individual growth parameters of each of the two domains were related within domain. The study used panel data from the Louisiana State Department of Education for 3 waves of students tested in grades 4, 6, and 7: (1) 50,907; (2) 47,003; and (3) 50,157. Assessments from the states testing program were administered in each of the three grades. Complete records for all 3 grades were available for 26,051 students, 11,627 of whom were African American. The study sheds light on the understanding of learners from the two ethnic groups and shows how they develop mastery in mathematics and language as they progress through school. The application of covariance structure analysis and growth curves to the study of growth in student academic achievement provides an avenue for an in-depth analysis of two academic areas in an available data set. The statistical techniques used in this research, LISREL and HLM methods, have a number of extensions that can be used in various research environments because they can accommodate any number of data points (waves) of longitudinal data. Four appendixes contain descriptive statistics from the study. (Contains 2 figures, 3 tables, and 50 references.) (SLD)

This study investigated whether individual change over time in mathematics and language differs from student to student and whether individual parameters of each of these domains were related within domain. The study also attempted to gain an understanding of individual change in student academic achievement through the application of one of the more powerful analytical tools, covariance structure analysis. The study also investigated whether the pattern of interrelationships among the individual achievement growth parameters were the same for African American and white students. The study used panel data from the Louisiana State Department of Education school data files. Wave 1 had 50,907 students, 24,030 of whom were African American, and wave 2 had 47,003 students, of whom 22,262 were African American. The final wave had 50,157 students, with 23,982 African Americans. For all 3 waves, the subset of students with records for grades 4, 6, and 7 was 26,051. The Iowa Tests of Basic Skills and other norm-referenced tests were administered as part of the state assessment program. Results of this study suggest that initial status differences in achievement levels between African American and white students are rather stable, and in some comparisons, actually increase over time. These differences might be predictive of later differential dropout rates between the two groups. The study also shows that differences between African American and white students become smaller over years of schooling, suggesting that early childhood experiences associated with differing home environments may be somewhat diminished by the effects of schooling over time. Six appendixes provide supplemental information about student achievement. (Contains 7 tables, 8 figures, and 85 references.) (SLD)

This document summarizes findings of a statewide evaluation of 11 pilot and 19 coaching-model schools participating in a Louisiana accelerated schools program. This 1995-96 evaluation aimed to determine whether the project met its stated objectives related to numbers of participants and types of services provided; ascertain the project's effects on school discipline, parental involvement, and student achievement; and ascertain the status of second- and fourth-generation schools on accelerated schools process indicators (powerful learning, unity of purpose, values, empowerment/responsibility, building on strengths, taking stock, vision, inquiry process, governance, and philosophy). Data were collected from various sources: a survey to measure process indicators, a feedback information survey completed by schools, project-related documentation, and open-ended interviews with project staff. Results showed that the project met its participation and service-provision objectives. Results for parental involvement, school discipline, and student achievement show consistent improvement over the life of the project. At least 60 percent of schools showed positive gains over time on 2 standardized achievement tests (LEAP and CAT). The schools process survey showed that second- and fourth-generation schools were making progress on most indicators. Included are five tables. (MLH)

The relationship between test preparation and academic performance on a high school graduation test was studied using data from the 1995-96 Louisiana Graduation Exit Examination (GEE). Test preparation was measured based on students' responses concerning whether they prepared well for the test or not. Academic performance was measured through five subjects: English Language Arts, Mathematics, Written Composition, Science, and Social Studies. Each subject was examined based on two test uses: students' passing status and students' scaled scores. A series of chi square tests were used for each subject to examine the relationship between test preparation and passing status. In addition, Pearson correlation analysis was used for each subject to examine the relationship between test preparation and scaled scores. Results show that there is a significant relationship between preparation and academic performance, but that the magnitudes of the relationships are different across the five subjects. The strongest relationship was found for mathematics. The patterns of the relationships between test preparation and academic performance were generally consistent across subgroups with reference to gender and ethnicity. (Contains eight tables and seven references.) (SLD)