Monday, April 26, 2010

Schools Matter: Does access to books mitigate the effects of poverty on reading achievement?

Schools Matter: Does access to books mitigate the effects of poverty on reading achievement?

Does access to books mitigate the effects of poverty on reading achievement?

Does access to books mitigate the effects of poverty on reading achievement? A third study.

Schubert, F. and Becker, R. 2010. Social inequality of reading literacy:
A longitudinal analysis with cross-sectional data of PIRLS 2001and PISA 2000 utilizing the pair wise matching procedure. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility 29:109-133.

Schubert and Becker (2010) matched nearly 3000 children in Germany with similar backgrounds and examined their performance on the 2001 PIRLS test (given at age 9 or 10), the 2000 PISA test (given age 15) and on their parents' estimation of their literacy level before starting school.

The home print environment was a strong predictor of reading achievement, even when income, parental

US DOE Office of Inspector General: Charter School Fraud and Embezzlement Update


School For Sale!

Now that a major news outlet has finally paid attention to the business practices of Dennis Bakke and his management company (with a well-deserved round of applause for Stephanie Strom), reporters and school districts may begin to more carefully scrutinize the company's dealings.

Virginia Demands More Failure from Disabled: Cancels Portfolio Assessments

From WaPo:
Virginia education leaders moved this week to introduce a standardized test for students with disabilities and phase out a widely used alternative that many officials say is undermining the state's accountability system.