This brief shares the perspectives and concerns of high school teachers in two districts regarding implementing the Common Core State Standards, specifically as the Common Core pertains to preparing more students for college and well-paying careers. The brief also makes state policy recommendations for ways to support teachers in their efforts to…

In fulfillment of Ohio Revised Code 3333.041 (A) (1) the Chancellor of the Department of Higher Education has published a listing by school district of the number of the 2015 high school graduates who subsequently attended a state institution of higher education in academic year 2015-2016. The listing provides the percentage of each district's…

This qualitative study investigates information sharing practices between comprehensive high schools and an offsite Career Technical School with a focus on Students With Disabilities (SWD). The case study approach examined how student information is communicated in support of new federal and state policies related to college and career…

This is an abridged version of the full assessment framework, written for a general audience. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), otherwise known as The Nation's Report Card, informs the public about the academic achievement of elementary and secondary students in the United States. Report cards communicate the findings of…

The ways in which the language of reformers intersects with and informs reform implementation is important to our understanding of how education policy impacts practice. To explore this issue, we employed critical discourse analysis (CDA) to analyze the language used by a 21st century skills-focused reform organization to promote its program…

Teachers dedicate their lives to working with students, but also in learning from each other. In programs around the Spokane, Washington area of the U.S., teachers have been meeting with the intention of strengthen connections and smooth transitions between K-12 schools and institutions of higher education in alignment with expectations for the…

This paper analyzes teacher responses to a distinctive reform that sought to ­implement alignment between high schools and colleges. A survey of 225 teachers is used to examine teachers' perceptions of the reform's effectiveness, further resources needed, and how perceptions changed over time. The reform was perceived as effective for…

Increasing students' academic success in postsecondary endeavors is an important goal for both high school and college institutions today. However, the standards for high school graduation and college readiness are not well aligned, and successful transition from high school to college is problematic for many students, particularly in math. This…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand how teachers experience a stance toward inquiry through participation in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). In order to meet this objective, the following questions framed this research: (1) How do individual teachers make meaning of the epistemological and dialogic aspects of…

This technical report provides information about the sample, survey instrument, and resultant data for the American Instructional Resources Surveys (AIRS) that were administered to principals and teachers in spring 2019 via RAND's American Educator Panels. The AIRS focused on instructional resources used and supported in English language arts,…

Professional development and learning has a long history in seminar-like models, as well as in the more educator-personal delivery approaches. The question is whether an intentionally coordinated, integrated combination of the two PDL approaches will have best impacts for educators as quantified in improved student performance. Contrasts between…

The aim of this study is to understand the main principles of the CEFR and to what extent Anatolian High Schools' 9th grade EFL curriculum meet the principles advocated in that document. Hence, document analysis was used as a method to seek answers to the research questions set by a comparative analysis of the CEFR and Anatolian High Schools'…

This article describes a research study on the appropriateness for social studies classrooms of "CNN Student News," a free online news program specifically aimed at middle and high school students. The author conducted a content analysis of "CNN Student News" during October 2012 and evaluated the program's content for…

There is an increasing focus across all educational sectors to ensure that learning objectives are aligned with learning activities and assessments. An attractive approach previously published is that of curriculum alignment projects. This paper discusses the use of the fun and famous "Elephant's Toothpaste" experiment as a customizable…

The Texas Education Code (§ 29.051) requires school districts to provide every language minority student with the opportunity to participate in either a bilingual or English as a second language (ESL) program. This evaluation report summarizes the performance of students who participated in the district's Dual Language Bilingual Program. Included…