Recently, Nora Gordon explained the evidence requirements of federal COVID aid in an article for Future Ed. Excerpts of the piece appear below: The American Recovery Plan’s $123 billion Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) fund requires that educators spend a significant portion of the money on things that have been found through Read more about Evidence Requirements of Federal COVID Aid[…]
Recently in NCEE’s blog, Marc Tucker asked a compelling question: Is the United States employing the right approach to education research? The evidence points to an answer of no. Excerpts from the piece appear below: Many years ago, in 1971, I (Tucker) was asked to join the White House unit set up to plan for Read more about Education Research: Does the United States Have the Right Model?[…]
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires that each state meaningfully differentiates its schools based at least on the following indicators: Academic achievement; Another academic indicator (growth and/or graduation rates); English Learner Language proficiency; and An indicator of school quality or student success – The indicator of school quality or student success (SQ/SS), should be Read more about What are states using as School Quality and Student Success Indicators?[…]
The Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking has issued its final report – The Promise of Evidence-Based Policymaking – which includes nearly two dozen bipartisan recommendations for how the federal government can use data and evidence to improve outcomes for all. Commission Chair Katharine Abraham, Commission Co-Chair Ron Haskins and the other Commissioners who spent 15 months carefully Read more about The Promise of Evidence-Based Policymaking[…]
Chad Aldeman of Bellwether Partners recently provided a reflection on teacher evaluation reform during the Obama presidency in Education Next. Excerpts of his insightful piece appear below: When President Obama took office in 2009, his administration quickly seized on teacher evaluations as an important public-policy problem. Today, much of his legacy on K-12 education rests Read more about The Teacher Evaluation Revamp, In Hindsight[…]
One of the broad intents of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is to encourage evidence-based decision-making as standard practice. This new, free publication from WestEd, Evidence-Based Improvement: A Guide for States to Strengthen their Frameworks and Supports Aligned to the Evidence Requirements of ESSA, provides an initial set of tools to help states Read more about Evidence-Based Improvement: A Guide to the Evidence Requirements of ESSA[…]
Robin Lake of the Center on Reinventing Public Education has offered six education policy ideas that just may get us through the presidential transition. Excerpts of her piece appear below: Polarization was the theme of 2016, and we’d be kidding ourselves to think that will be much different in 2017. Still, there has rarely been Read more about Six Unifying Education Policy Ideas for 2017[…]
The Obama administration’s final accountability rules for the Every Student Succeeds Act give states greater flexibility on school ratings, schools with high testing opt-out rates, and in other areas than an earlier draft version, released in May. But, with President-elect Donald Trump set to take office in January, the regulations face an uncertain future. The Read more about Final ESSA Accountability Rules Boost State Flexibility in Key Areas[…]
The U.S. Department of Education has released its final regulations governing how states hold their teacher preparation programs accountable. New America’s Melissa Tooley takes a closer look at the potential challenges with implementation, which falls squarely on the shoulders of State Education Agencies: As with the recently-enacted Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), these regulations leave Read more about Teacher Prep Regulations Rise from Dead, Turn Spotlight to States[…]
The U.S. Department of Education has released non-regulatory guidance to help support the nation’s educators and elevate the teaching profession. The guidance encourages states and districts to prepare, train, and recruit high-quality teachers and principals to increase student academic achievement. With the enactment of Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), states and districts have the opportunity Read more about Education Department Encourages Support for Educators and Teaching Profession[…]
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was passed by Congress in December, and the law affords states much more flexibility to develop innovative educational systems and accountability processes. Now is an incredible opportunity for the transformation of American education, state by state. In this month’s issue brief, Core Education explores the opportunities under ESSA, including Read more about Core Education Issue Brief: ESSA – Seizing the Opportunity[…]
A recent article from Education Week, by Marc Tucker, criticizes the way states are handling the implementation of ESSA. The hottest item at the recent meeting of the Council of Chief State School Officers was ESSA, the new federal education legislation that replaced No Child Left Behind, but the big question on the minds of Read more about ESSA: Time for States to Seize the Initiative[…]
Now that Congress has reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and given states control over their own accountability systems, what will states do with the new flexibility? Pretty much the same thing they have been doing for the past four years, says a report released by the Council of Chief State School Officers. More Read more about States’ Continued Commitment to Next-Generation Accountability Systems[…]
As this blog reported, the reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act was signed into law on December 10, 2015. The new law, deemed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is good for the next four years. SY2016-17 is a transition year, and the law will be in full effect in SY2017-18. We have previously provided Read more about What ESSA Means for Teacher Effectiveness[…]
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), first created under President Lyndon Johnson in 1965, was the first major federal effort to provide funding and policy guidance to states to address the education needs of low-income and minority children and support the intent of Brown v. Board of Education. Today, The Every Child Succeeds Act, the Read more about ESEA Reauthorized – FINALLY![…]
Probably the most politically-charged issue in American education in recent years has been the Common Core State Standards. This blog has covered CCSS over that time, here and here and here and here, just as a few examples. This issue has again come to the fore because of the Presidential election season. Some Republican candidates, Read more about Common Core’s Surprising Conservative Roots[…]