Balanced assessment systems provide feedback and support decision-making to improve instruction and learning. "Supporting Continuous Improvement Efforts Through Balanced Assessment Systems: Components, Integration, and High-Leverage Actions" outlines key features and components, integration of various assessment approaches, and guiding…

A significant movement is underway across the nation to design K-12 assessment systems that better equip stakeholders to provide an equitable and excellent education to each child. While some of these innovations emerged before the pandemic, the massive disruption to instruction fueled a new urgency to rethink the potential of assessments to drive…

There is a growing call to reconsider current approaches to national and state assessment system policies and practices. State and local education agency leaders, educators, community leaders, and advocates have voiced concerns that current state assessment systems--defined primarily by end-of-year multiple-choice tests--are unable to meet…

Over the past three years, a community of faculty and graduate teaching assistants has developed within the University of Kentucky Mathematics department centered around the use and development of student-centered assessment methods. In this article, we discuss the environmental factors that contributed to the growth of this community, our…

The crux of this project involved creating an accreditation handbook for the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) accreditation process for the Educator Preparation Program (EPP) at Morehead State University (MSU). CAEP is a nationally recognized accrediting body that reviews and ensures quality in teacher education…

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, K-12 schools are under immense pressure to meet the diverse needs of students. But policies and practices have not evolved quickly enough to meet those needs -- and as a result, the system continues to fail far too many young people. In "Levers of Change: How State Policies Support District…

Fidelity is defined as doing what is intended. The purpose of measuring fidelity is to assist with supporting implementation. Collecting fidelity data provides an opportunity to problem-solve throughout the process versus waiting for outcome data. More often than not, purchased programs and curriculum materials are missing a research-validated…

Background: In response to the effort to increase minority enrollment in college science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors, STEM summer bridge programs were created to help minorities with the transition from high school to college with the long-term goal of increasing the diversity of professionals in STEM. The goal of this…

High-quality afterschool and summer learning programs are effective ways to support children and teens and accelerate their academic growth. In fact, the American Rescue Plan prioritized a significant amount of funding for out-of-school time programs because of the evidence of their effectiveness. Over the past few years, state educational…

Developed by the National Writing Project (NWP), the College, Career, and Community Writers Program (C3WP) seeks to improve students' argument writing by building teachers' understanding of and skill in teaching source-based argument writing. The program features intensive professional development, skill-based instructional resources, and…

Preparing pre-service students to teach agricultural mechanics is a difficult task due to the career pathway including a great variety of topics (Byrd et al., 2015). This study examined the trend in requirements in 1862 land-grant universities for number of courses, course credit hours, and course topics related to agricultural mechanics, as well…

Analysis of assessment data from an initial pool of second-grade students (n = 4549) in low-income rural communities and a subgroup of students identified from that pool for gifted services (n = 524) provided evidence for the validity of a curricular-aligned process including universal screening and local norms for identifying rural students in…

We examined the characteristics of 77 high school participants from four school districts who participated in the Teaching and Learning Career Pathway (TLCP) at the University of Louisville during the 2018-2019 school year. The program seeks to support the recruitment of a diverse and effective educator workforce by recruiting high school students…

The lack of faculty engagement in higher education institutions could result in adverse outcomes. Higher education leaders are concerned with the lack of faculty engagement as it correlates to decreased productivity, commitment, and low employee job satisfaction. Grounded in the employee engagement theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple…

In 2012, Northern Kentucky University began offering a Best Practices in College Teaching (BPCT) course. Prior to this program evaluation, the course had not been assessed in any formal manner. The gap in knowledge lies in understanding the unique aspects that the BPCT course offers. The Utilization-Focused Evaluation (UFE) developed by Michael…