Research Development & Evaluation: National Reports

(http://www.ncrel.org/gap/studies/thetop.htm)
The report of the National Study Group for the Affirmative Development of Academic Ability maintains that intellectual competence is not fixed but developed and, therefore, developable. This is a report of their effort to marshal the chunks of knowledge needed to systematically nurture intellectual competence and eliminate the academic achievement gaps among children.

(http://www.aei.org/docLib/20070716_NealSchanzenbachPaper.pdf)
Results from fifth grade test scores from the Chicago Public Schools, show that accountability systems often provide incentives for teachers and principals to target children near current proficiency levels for extra attention, but these same systems provide weak incentives to devote extra attention to students who are clearly proficient already or who have little chance of becoming proficient in the near term.

http://www.aacte.org/Governmental_Relations/AACTE_STEM_Directory2007.pdf
This report from the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education contains selected profiles of STEM teacher education programs around the country.

http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309100399
This congressionally requested report makes four recommendations along with 20 implementation actions that federal policy-makers should take to create high-quality jobs and focus new science and technology efforts on meeting the nation's needs, especially in the areas of education and clean, affordable energy.

http://www.ccpr.ucla.edu/seminars/Seminar%20Papers/School_Readiness_Duncan.pdf
Using 6 longitudinal data sets, the authors estimate links between three key elements of school readiness -- school-entry academic, attention, and socioemotional skills -- and later school reading and math achievement. Across all 6 studies, the strongest predictors of later achievement are school-entry math, reading, and attention skills. A meta-analysis of the results shows that early math skills have the greatest predictive power,

http://www.stemedcoalition.org/content/reports/default.aspx
The Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Coalition works to support STEM programs for teachers and students at the U. S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, and other agencies that offer STEM related programs. This is a link to several of their research reports.

http://www.tap2015.org/about/TAP_report2.pdf
This is an action plan from a cross-section of American business groups with five major recommendations for strengthening STEM education.