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[…]
States create annual aggregate report cards for the public about education statewide. But can people easily find and understand these reports? In many cases, the answer is no. In summer 2016, the Data Quality Campaign (DQC) set out to discover what information it could easily find on state report cards from all 50 states and Read more about Show me the Data: State Report Cards Must Answer Questions and Inform Action[…]
As a new political and policy era dawns in Washington, the status of the nation’s schools remains stable, though still earning a grade of C from Quality Counts 2017, the 21st annual report card issued by the Education Week Research Center. The C corresponds to a score of 74.2, which is nearly identical to the Read more about Nation’s Schools Get Middling Grade on Quality Counts Report Card[…]
Michael Petrilli, President of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, recently suggested that 2017 can be the year we come back together again. Excerpts of his post in Fordham’s Flypaper appear below: Let me suggest three principles we should all try to adhere to—and what they could mean for education reform in the months ahead. The Read more about 2017: The year we could come back together again[…]
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[…]
States are now deeply engaged in developing plans for their federal education spending for the next several years. Now is the time to rethink systems and strategies and to focus funds and efforts on what matters most for learning: great teachers and leaders for every student and school. Written collaboratively by all three partners of Read more about Building the Educator Workforce Our Children Need Now[…]
David Griffith and Michael Petrilli have put their minds together to produce an ideal ESSA accountability system as a model for state education agencies. Below are excerpts from their recent blog post: States are now putting pen to paper on their accountability plans and many of them want advice about what to do. So no Read more about How States should Redesign their Accountability Systems under ESSA[…]
The Center on Great Teachers & Leaders has released a new discussion guide, Teacher Effectiveness in the Every Student Succeeds Act. Systemic challenges in the educator workforce require thoughtful and bold actions, and ESSA presents a unique opportunity for states to reaffirm, modify, or improve their vision of educator effectiveness. This GTL Center discussion guide Read more about Teacher Effectiveness in the Every Student Succeeds Act: A Discussion Guide[…]
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[…]
In “Grading Schools: How States Should Define ‘School Quality’ Under the Every Student Succeeds Act,” Bellwether author Chad Aldeman argues that accountability systems are a state’s best tool to signal what it values and how schools should be working to improve. But if states fail to take advantage of that opportunity, they may not provide Read more about Grading Schools: How States Should Define ‘School Quality’ under ESSA[…]
The College and Career Readiness Center at AIR has released a College and Career Readiness and Success (CCRS) Organizer Scorecard. This tool is a self-assessment that can provide a snapshot of where your district or state is in integrating the multiple elements that impact college and career readiness and success for students in the K-12 Read more about How ESSA Can Help States Improve College and Career Readiness[…]
The Institute of Education Sciences’ Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Midwest has released a new survey tool that will help education leaders assess to what degree schools are engaging in practices associated with high performance. The survey and associated guide were developed in partnership with REL Midwest’s School Turnaround Research Alliance. The School Survey of Practices Read more about New Survey Helps Schools Identify Best Practices for Improving School Performance[…]
A new report from the National Conference of State Legislatures, No Time to Lose: How to Build a World-Class Education System State by State, wastes no time in getting to the point. “The bad news,” it says in the very first sentence, “is most state education systems are falling dangerously behind the world in a Read more about No Time to Lose: An Urgent Call to Action[…]
No Child Left Behind meant well, but it had a pernicious flaw: It created strong incentives for schools to focus all their energy on helping low-performing students get over a modest “proficiency” bar. Meanwhile, it ignored the educational needs of high achievers, who were likely to pass state reading and math tests regardless of what Read more about High Stakes for High Achievers: State Accountability in the Age of ESSA[…]
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) offers new opportunities for states and school districts. In general, ESSA’s new rules do not take effect until July 1, 2017,which gives state education agencies (SEAs) an opportunity to assess whether their current policies and practices related to federal formula grant funds are aligned with state education objectives (such Read more about Maximizing ESSA Formula Funds: State Self-Assessments[…]
With the enactment of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), states will now have greater control and increased opportunities when developing plans that are customized and targeted to address the needs of their students. As ESSA includes expanded guidelines and objectives that are new from what many states are familiar with as part of previous Read more about ESSA’s Well-Rounded Education[…]