<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rss version="2.0"><channel><title>Regional Educational Laboritory What's New</title><link>http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/whatsnew/</link><description>For the latest in events, developments, and updates to the Regional Educational Laboratory Program website, check back here often.</description><language>en-us</language><category>education</category><category>statistics</category><category>data access tools</category><category>libraries</category><category>schools</category><category>colleges</category><item><title>An analysis of state data on the distribution of teaching assignments filled by highly qualified teachers in New York schools</title><description><![CDATA[New York rural schools and districts have a high percentage of core teaching assignments filled by highly qualified teachers, with only small differences across key factors such as school poverty and school need for improvement. Urban schools-particularly those in New York City-have fewer core assignments filled by highly qualified teachers.]]></description><pubDate>5/5/2008</pubDate><link>http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/projects/project.asp?id=41</link></item><item><title>What States Can Learn About State Standards and Assessment Systems from No Child Left Behind Documents and Interviews with Central Region Assessment Directors</title><description><![CDATA[The purpose of this study is to describe the No Child Left Behind requirements for state standards and assessment systems. It examined official documents and peer review decision letters and included interviews with state assessment directors in the Central Region to highlight the challenges states face in developing and implementing approved systems.]]></description><pubDate>4/7/2008</pubDate><link>http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/projects/project.asp?id=13</link></item><item><title>Piloting a Searchable Database of Dropout Prevention Programs in Nine Low-Income Urban School Districts in the Northeast and Islands Region</title><description><![CDATA[Despite evidence that some dropout prevention programs have positive effects, whether districts in the region are using such evidence-based programs has not been documented. This report details a pilot project to generate and share knowledge by building a searchable database of dropout programs and policies.]]></description><pubDate>3/31/2008</pubDate><link>http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/projects/project.asp?id=37</link></item><item><title>A Description of Foundation Skills Interventions for Struggling Middle-grade Readers in Four Urban Northeast and Islands Region School Districts</title><description><![CDATA[This study describes how four midsize urban school districts in the Northeast and Islands Region were providing foundation skills assessments and programs to struggling middle-grade readers. Researchers found variations, but also some similarities, in the districts' use of tests and programs.]]></description><pubDate>3/17/2008</pubDate><link>http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/projects/project.asp?id=38</link></item><item><title>Alternative Assessments for Special Education Students in the Southwest Region States</title><description><![CDATA[In 2003, the U.S. Department of Education issued regulations allowing states to develop alternate standards and assessments for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. This study reviews and summarizes alternate assessment policies and practices and their implementation and impact for the most significantly cognitively disabled students, across the five states in the Southwest Region.]]></description><pubDate>3/10/2008</pubDate><link>http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/projects/project.asp?id=73</link></item><item><title>A Review of Avoidable Losses: High Stakes Accountability and the Dropout Crisis</title><description><![CDATA[REL Southwest received a request to review the report Avoidable Losses: High Stakes Accountability and the Dropout Crisis to assess the soundness of the study methodology and the appropriateness of the conclusions drawn in the report. The review by REL Southwest found that the authors made strong causal conclusions about the effect of Texas&#8217;s test-based accountability system on the high school dropout rates: that the accountability system directly increases dropout rates throughout the state. Given the nature of the data collected and analyzed in this study, such conclusions cannot be scientifically validated.
]]></description><pubDate>2/29/2008</pubDate><link>http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/projects/project.asp?id=146</link></item><item><title>Formative assessment policies, programs, and practices in the Southwest Region</title><description><![CDATA[Formative assessments help educators target instructional practices to meet specific student needs and monitor and support student progress toward valued state learning outcomes. Policies and programs in the five Southwest Region states suggest a range of strategies to support the development and use of formative assessments.]]></description><pubDate>2/19/2008</pubDate><link>http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/projects/project.asp?id=150</link></item><item><title>A Status Report on Middle School Mathematics Assessment and Student Achievement in the Pacific Region</title><description><![CDATA[This study answers one basic question: What is the status of student achievement in middle school mathematics in the Pacific Region jurisdictions? The findings provide a portrait of the types of mathematic assessments used in grades 7 and 8 and of how well students are performing.]]></description><pubDate>2/11/2008</pubDate><link>http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/projects/project.asp?ID=131</link></item><item><title>Course-taking Patterns and Preparation for Postsecondary Education in California's Public University Systems Among Minority Youth</title><description><![CDATA[This report finds that the high school program for college preparation begins in 9th grade and that making up missed preparatory courses and academic content is likely to be difficult for students who put off college-preparatory work until later in their high school career.]]></description><pubDate>1/28/2008</pubDate><link>http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/projects/project.asp?id=86</link></item><item><title>Measuring How Benchmark Assessments Affect Student Achievement</title><description><![CDATA[This report examines a Massachusetts pilot program for quarterly benchmark exams in middle-school mathematics, finding that program schools do not show greater gains in student achievement after a year. But that finding might reflect limited data rather than ineffective benchmark assessments.]]></description><pubDate>1/3/2008</pubDate><link>http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/projects/project.asp?id=43</link></item><item><title>Examining District Guidance to Schools on Teacher Evaluation Policies in the Midwest Region</title><description><![CDATA[This descriptive study provides a snapshot of teacher evaluation policies across a demographically diverse sample of districts in the Midwest Region. It aims to lay the groundwork for further research and inform conversations about current policies at the local, district, and state levels.]]></description><pubDate>12/10/2007</pubDate><link>http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/projects/project.asp?id=30</link></item><item><title>The Predictive Validity of Selected Benchmark Assessments Used in the Mid-Atlantic Region</title><description><![CDATA[This report examines the availability and quality of predictive validity data for a selection of benchmark assessments identified by state and district personnel as in use within Mid-Atlantic Region jurisdictions. The report finds that evidence is generally lacking of their predictive validity with respect to state assessment tests.]]></description><pubDate>11/26/2007</pubDate><link>http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/projects/project.asp?id=24</link></item><item><title>Using Strategy Instruction to Help Struggling High Schoolers Understand What They Read</title><description><![CDATA[This review sought to locate and summarize findings from rigorous, scientifically based studies of the effectiveness of strategy instruction&mdash;teaching students to use and articulate strategies that foster active, competent, self-regulated, and intentional learning&mdash;for helping struggling high school students improve their reading comprehension. The goal was to address information needs in the Central Region by identifying evidence-based practices intended to help high school teachers teach struggling readers.]]></description><pubDate>10/29/2007</pubDate><link>http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/projects/project.asp?id=14</link></item><item><title>Using Strategy Instruction to Help Struggling High Schoolers Understand What They Read</title><description><![CDATA[This review sought to locate and summarize findings from rigorous, scientifically based studies of the effectiveness of strategy instruction&#8212;teaching students to use and articulate strategies that foster active, competent, self-regulated, and intentional learning&#8212;for helping struggling high school students improve their reading comprehension. The goal was to address information needs in the Central Region by identifying evidence-based practices intended to help high school teachers teach struggling readers.]]></description><pubDate>10/29/2007</pubDate><link>http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/projects/project.asp?id=14</link></item><item><title>Measuring Resilience and Youth Development: The Psychometric Properties of the Healthy Kids Survey</title><description><![CDATA[This report summarizes findings from a study of the psychometric properties of the resilience and youth development module, a key component of the Healthy Kids Survey. The study aims to improve resilience assessment and research so that educators can shape the school environment to promote academic resilience.]]></description><pubDate>10/3/2007</pubDate><link>http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/projects/project.asp?id=84</link></item></channel></rss>
