The U.S. Education Innovation Index: Prototype and Report

Posted on October 5, 2016March 3, 2020 by coreeducation

Bellwether Education and the Digital Promise Innovation Clusters have released the U.S. Education Innovation Index (USEII). USEII is the field’s first foray into measuring education innovation at the city level. The index measures innovation activities and conditions of urban schools along 42 indicators in nine categories: Innovation Culture Need for Academic Improvement Collaboration and Coordination Read more about The U.S. Education Innovation Index: Prototype and Report[…]

New Survey Helps Schools Identify Best Practices for Improving School Performance

Posted on October 3, 2016September 30, 2016 by coreeducation

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[…]

No Time to Lose: An Urgent Call to Action

Posted on September 21, 2016September 16, 2016 by coreeducation

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[…]

Maintaining Focus on Student Success

Posted on July 7, 2016March 3, 2020 by coreeducation

A recent paper titled Not another meeting: How performance management routines help education systems deliver on their goals for students asks what data from the field can tell us about the ways in which leaders keep their systems focused on their goals through regular conversations about progress. This paper considers five years’ data from “capacity Read more about Maintaining Focus on Student Success[…]

Organizations in Which Teachers Can Do Their Best Work

Posted on July 5, 2016July 1, 2016 by coreeducation

In a two part blog on the best ways to organize an educational system, Mark Tucker outlines his vision and details the specific methods that can be used to achieve this vision. Mr. Tucker writes: NCEE, the organization I head, runs the biggest and most successful program for training school principals in the United States, Read more about Organizations in Which Teachers Can Do Their Best Work[…]

Most Likely to Succeed

Posted on July 1, 2016September 12, 2020 by coreeducation

David Brooks, an op-ed writer for the New York Times, examines the new documentary, Most Likely to Succeed and analyzes the claims it makes about the current state of the American Education system: Greg Whiteley’s documentary, Most Likely to Succeed, argues that the American school system is ultimately built on a Prussian model designed over Read more about Most Likely to Succeed[…]

Eyes on the Prize: System-Wide Goals to Drive Student Success

Posted on June 2, 2016March 3, 2020 by coreeducation

In the first of a series of research briefs focused on the biggest implementation challenges facing American education today, EDI looks at what data from the field can tell us about education leaders’ capacity to anchor their work in clear student outcome goals. Eyes on the prize: The capacity of education leaders to use system-wide Read more about Eyes on the Prize: System-Wide Goals to Drive Student Success[…]

Grading the Graders: A Report on Teacher Evaluation Reform in Education

Posted on May 20, 2016May 20, 2016 by coreeducation

A recent report from Thomas Toch at Georgetown University analyzes the national teacher-evaluation reform movement and finds that it has been far more beneficial than its many critics would suggest. In a growing number of states and school districts, new, more meaningful evaluation systems have focused principals’ attention on instruction, prompted valuable discussions in schools Read more about Grading the Graders: A Report on Teacher Evaluation Reform in Education[…]

Beyond Teacher Quality

Posted on April 25, 2016April 23, 2016 by coreeducation

The Shanker Institute recently published commentary on the Beyond PD: Teacher Professional Learning in High-Performing Systems report from the Learning First Alliance and the International Center for Benchmarking in Education at the National Center for Education and the Economy. This blog covered that report here (https://www.coreeducationllc.com/blog2/more-teaching-less-learning/) and here (https://www.coreeducationllc.com/blog2/professional-development-transformed/). As a review, the paper Read more about Beyond Teacher Quality[…]

ESSA Accountability: Don’t Forget the High Achievers

Posted on April 11, 2016March 3, 2020 by coreeducation

In the early days of the accountability movement, Jeb Bush’s Florida developed an innovative approach to evaluating school quality. First, the state looked at individual student progress over time—making it one of the first to do so. Then it put special emphasis on the gains (or lack thereof) of the lowest-performing kids in the state. Read more about ESSA Accountability: Don’t Forget the High Achievers[…]

Evaluation Systems as Tools for Professional Development

Posted on March 23, 2016March 18, 2016 by coreeducation

A recent report released by New America called Beyond Ratings examines state teacher evaluation systems and evaluates their usefulness as tools for teacher growth. The report highlights what actions states have taken so far to ensure evaluation systems are being used to develop teachers’ practice, and what more needs to be done. In particular, the Read more about Evaluation Systems as Tools for Professional Development[…]

School System 20/20 Assessments and Metrics

Posted on December 9, 2015December 4, 2015 by coreeducation

School System 20/20 from Education Resource Strategies presents the first version of School System 20/20 Assessments and Metrics, a detailed set of key questions and metrics used to create the Lawrence case study, and designed to help school systems understand whether their policies, structures, and practices create the conditions for improving student performance at scale. Read more about School System 20/20 Assessments and Metrics[…]

Evaluation, Accountability, and PD in an Opportunity Culture

Posted on October 22, 2015October 22, 2015 by coreeducation

Public Impact’s newest, five-step, free toolkit, “Evaluation, Accountability, and Professional Development in an Opportunity Culture: A Practical Guide”, gives schools, districts, and states what they need to create an evaluation system that helps teachers improve and advance their careers while helping more students. An accompanying State Policy Brief helps policymakers and teaching advocates change laws Read more about Evaluation, Accountability, and PD in an Opportunity Culture[…]

How to End the Education Reform Wars

Posted on October 21, 2015October 22, 2015 by coreeducation

Michael J. Petrilli of the Fordham Institute on Education recently delivered an address to the New York State Council of School Superintendents about how to end the American education reform wars. Admittedly coming from a more conservative perspective, Petrilli advocates three main goals for school leaders: Be the voice of the sane, sensible center. Grab Read more about How to End the Education Reform Wars[…]

Getting Smart’s Seven Skills for Smart Cities (and States!)

Posted on October 15, 2015March 3, 2020 by coreeducation

Getting Smart is a website devoted to improving education in today’s rapidly changing and globally connected world. One recent initiative of Getting Smart is “Smart Cities that Work for Everyone.” This initiative offers recommendations for how leaders in cities, but also applicable in states overall, can help educate and prepare others for the rigors of Read more about Getting Smart’s Seven Skills for Smart Cities (and States!)[…]

Is There a Market in the United States for a Strong Instructional Core?

Posted on October 2, 2015September 25, 2015 by coreeducation

Marc Tucker of the National Center on Education and the Economy wants the U.S. to reform the way that it approaches its instructional core. By this, he means “the combination of state-mandated standards, curriculum frameworks, course syllabi, instructional materials, and tests and examinations that together define and measure what students are taught.” Tucker’s recommendations, like Read more about Is There a Market in the United States for a Strong Instructional Core?[…]