Quality and Equity in Education draws attention to the importance of developing and testing theories of educational effectiveness and using these theories for improvement purposes. It makes a major contribution to knowledge and theory building in research on promoting quality and equity in education. The book presents an improved version of the…

This evaluation report describes a central professional learning strategy that the California NGSS Early Implementers Initiative used to help teachers effectively transition to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The Initiative's approach to lesson study, called a Teaching Learning Collaborative (TLC), brings together teams of teachers…

This paper presents a checklist that serves as a guide to the key considerations policymakers must address as they develop policies to improve teacher effectiveness. It articulates state roles and responsibilities, national progress toward fulfilling these demands, and the ability to chart how individual states stack up. The "National Landscape"…

For well over a decade, teachers have been recognized as the single most important school-level factor influencing student achievement (Darling-Hammond, 2000; McCaffrey, Lockwood, Koretz, & Hamilton, 2003; Rivkin, Hanushek, & Kain, 2000; Rowan, Correnti & Miller, 2002; Wright, Horn, & Sanders, 1997). Tremendous public resources…

In the report "From Good to Great: Exemplary Teachers Share Perspectives on Increasing Teacher Effectiveness across the Career Continuum," (See full report in ERIC at ED555657) National and State Teachers of the Year shared their views on what helped them become great teachers. This accompanying "Discussion Starter Tool" builds…

One element of quality teaching for improving student outcomes is effective data use. To date, however, policies have not gone far enough to promote the skills teachers need to be data literate. This brief for state policymakers offers a proposed definition of data literacy along with recommendations for state and federal policymakers. [The…

There is no shortage of research on the importance of good teaching. For decades, study after study has shown that there are large differences in effectiveness from one teacher to another and that these differences can have a lifelong impact on students. A recent study that tracked 2.5 million students over 20 years determined that those with…

This paper provides a vision and set of policy recommendations to help federal, state, and local leaders develop the workforce necessary to support teaching and learning in a competency-based K-12 education system. Part One, Pre-service and Credentialing for K-12 Competency-Based Learning Environments, provides policymakers with a framework and…

Eva Moskowitz (the founder and CEO of the Success Charter Network in Harlem) and Arin Lavinia offer practical, classroom-tested ideas for dramatically improving teaching and learning. Moskowitz and Lavinia reveal how a charter school in the middle of Harlem, enrolling neighborhood children selected at random, emerged as one of the top schools in…

Earlier this year, in "Subprime Learning: Early Education in America since the Great Recession," the current state of early education in the U.S. was surveyed by examining progress over the last five years . It was found that while the public, political, and research consensus is stronger than ever, the field remains in dire need of…

This report highlights 10 of the most advanced and talked-about teacher evaluation systems nationally: Delaware; Rhode Island; Tennessee; Hillsborough County, Florida; Houston, Texas; New Haven, Connecticut; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Washington, DC (referred to throughout just as Washington); Achievement First (a charter management organization,…

This paper paints a picture of the dismal state of early education for many children--especially the disadvantaged--who are rarely given access to the kinds of stimulating, content-rich conversations that provide them with the cognitive and social-emotional skills they need to succeed throughout their years in school. With many states currently…

The importance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has gained national attention in recent years, with educators, policymakers, and others advocating for greater participation and enhanced performance in STEM in order to bolster the U.S. economy and provide greater national security. This brief summarizes several pieces of…

In this report, the Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ), in collaboration with National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) from North Carolina, offer a set of TeacherSolutions on how to improve practices and policies for teaching and learning in 21st century schools. This cadre of classroom experts offer their best thinking on some of today's most…

As new performance-management-related policies go from idea to implementation, policy makers and education leaders will be called upon to flesh-out what are still broad principles in many areas. This represents a significant inflection point for the teaching profession and the management of public school systems. Early decisions will determine…