ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides practitioners and policy makers with up-to-date research on academic achievement, along with relevant research-based instructional strategies. It also provides an educators and policy makers with a brief synthesis of major research findings in each area. The book explains about correlates of and influences on achievement. It explains discussions of correlates of achievement within specific categories. Valuing of high achievement is engrained in the fabric of many societies. Parents want their children to achieve at high levels, administrators want their schools to be high performing, regional school leaders want their regions’ aggregated achievement to be strong, and even politicians want local and national data to be indicative of high achievement. Whereas achievement is highly coveted, there is no universal agreement on what truly constitutes “achievement.”
