The Education Commission of the States is out with a new policy snapshot that explores competency-based education and provides an overview of current and previous legislation related to this approach. The main goal of competency-based education serves to award credit/degrees to students for meeting specific skill competencies agreed upon by faculty, industry leaders and workforce Read more about Competency-Based Education[…]
Education researchers at Pearson teamed up with the Partnership for 21st Century Learning (P21) to conduct a review of the research literature on the importance of collaboration skills for employers, as well as how to teach and assess these skills in K-12 and higher-education classrooms. The ability to work in teams is one of the Read more about Skills for Today: What We Know about Teaching and Assessing Collaboration[…]
State policy plays a critical role in determining whether and how well local education improvement strategies can be implemented. As states rework their education policies under ESSA, state and local leaders need a way to assess their current policy environment and identify the changes needed to encourage local innovation and problem solving. To identify the Read more about How States Can Promote Local Innovation, Options, and Problem-Solving in Public Education[…]
Andy Smarick, writing for AEI, has penned a piece on the shortcomings of efficiency as an educational goal. Excerpts from his article appear below: There are very good reasons to resist (or at least be skeptical of) efforts to drive “efficiency” in public education. One of the biggest reasons is that any attempt to maximize Read more about The Shortcomings of Efficiency in Education[…]
Matt Barnum of The 74 recently reviewed research on the importance of curricular materials for student achievement. Excerpts from his article appear below: The idea that schools can get better simply by improving the content of what they teach may seem at once novel and obvious in an education policy debate dominated by heated battles Read more about New Studies Suggest Choice of Curriculum and Textbooks Can Make a Big Difference for Students[…]
The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) has published a vast set of online guidance and practical tools to help school districts and schools systemically implement practices that promote social and emotional learning (SEL). The SEL District Resource Center includes more than 500 resources that address priorities from setting a vision, to aligning Read more about CASEL Guidance, Tools and Resources for SEL[…]
The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and Education Strategy Group (ESG) have released Destination Known, a report which includes recommendations to support states as they develop accountability systems that value college and career readiness and better support all students in achieving success after high school. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) provides Read more about CCSSO Releases Recommendations for Valuing College and Career Readiness[…]
In Education Week’s Top Performer’s blog, Marc Tuker recently reflected on the gap between typical American practice and global best practice when it comes to college and career readiness. Below are excerpts from the post: In top-performing education systems, qualifications systems are designed so that at the end of each stage of a student’s progression Read more about Accountability, College & Career Readiness: Is This the Best We Can Do?[…]
A new report from the Aspen Institute calls attention to how students’ social and emotional development must be integrated with academics in order for students to fully achieve these aspirations. This Time, With Feeling: Integrating Social and Emotional Development and College- and-Career-Ready Standards draws directly from states’ standards in English, Science, and Math to demonstrate Read more about This Time, With Feeling: Integrating Social and Emotional Development and College- and-Career-Ready Standards[…]
The Institute of Education Sciences has released two new reports from the Regional Educational Laboratories (REL) program on accelerated college credit programs and college and career readiness. Characteristics and postsecondary pathways of students who participate in acceleration programs in Minnesota This REL Midwest study examined the 2011 cohort of Minnesota public high school graduates who Read more about New Reports on Postsecondary Preparation, Readiness, and Outcomes[…]
When the Center for American Progress released its 2012 report, Do Schools Challenge Our Students?, many states had just committed to the Common Core State Standards. The standards were an attempt to raise expectations by establishing a new set of rigorous K-12 academic benchmarks, and the CAP analysis underscored the need for more rigorous standards, Read more about Do Schools Challenge Our Students Now?[…]
A new series of reports summarizes what is known about social and emotional learning (SEL) and effective strategies that promote SEL for students ages 3-8. The four-part series is based on a literature review conducted by Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Mid-Atlantic. Social and emotional learning is the process by which children and adults learn to Read more about REL Report Series Helps Educators and Policymakers Implement Social and Emotional Learning Programs[…]
Research shows that dual enrollment programs have positive effects on high school achievement and completion, as well as college access, enrollment and degree attainment, according to a new What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) intervention report. The Institute of Education Sciences recently released a report that summarizes research reviewed by the WWC on how dual enrollment programs Read more about WWC Review Finds Dual Enrollment Programs Have Positive Impacts on High School Students[…]
The stakeholder engagement provisions in ESSA (the Every Student Succeeds Act) will fundamentally alter how education policy is made. If implemented as intended, it will ensure that the expertise of the parents, educators and other leaders working with, and on behalf of, students every day informs the development of state and local policies and practices. Read more about Stakeholder Engagement: Challenges and New Practices[…]
The vast majority of public two- and four-year colleges report enrolling students – more than half a million of them – who are not ready for college-level work, a Hechinger Report investigation of 44 states has found. The numbers reveal a glaring gap in the nation’s education system: A high school diploma, no matter how Read more about Colleges Enroll Many Students who Aren’t Prepared[…]
Marc Tucker of Education week comments on college readiness for students across the nations, and the different definitions of being ready for different groups of students. Does this nationwide difference drive inequality? Excerpts of his commentary appear below: The rapidly increasing social class and racial isolation of the last four or five decades has been Read more about College Readiness: Are Different Definitions Driving Inequality?[…]