Education is often depicted as one of the best ways out of poverty. At the same time, research over many decades finds that most educational outcomes are strongly correlated to poverty. It is not likely that these two themes are true at the same time. Either schools are windows of opportunity and help overcome or mitigate poverty and other…

This research study analyzed the impact of an early college readiness program (ECRP) on students' academic performance on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) reading and mathematics assessments in Grades 3, 4, and 5. ECRP is a college readiness system designed to support students to reach postsecondary education. The ECRP…

This study is designed to assess the effects of states' adoption of college- and career-ready (CCR) standards on student achievement. Relying on state-level NAEP data from 1990 to 2015, we use comparative interrupted time series analyses to assess whether the adoption of CCR standards led to a larger improvement in student achievement in states…

During the past decade, the NAEP Validity Studies (NVS) Panel has been monitoring, studying, and commenting on potential issues with the validity of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) arising from changes that have been brought about by the adoption of rigorous state college and career readiness standards, such as the Common…

As an early Common Core booster, Michael Petrilli had hoped that by now--10 years after most states adopted the standards--the nation's schools would have logged tangible improvements in teaching and learning that resulted in higher student achievement. In this article, Petrilli reviews what Common Core is and discusses the work ahead that is…

Every two years, the Washington State Board of Education (SBE) reports on the health of Washington's educational system. Established in 2013 by the Washington State Legislature, the Indicators of Educational System Health create a common framework upon which to evaluate the overall health of the educational system. The Board has two important…

In Fall and Winter 2022-2023, the NSCAS assessments were administered in ELA and mathematics for grades 3-8. In Spring 2022-2023, the NSCAS assessments were administered in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics for grades 3-8 and in science for grades 5 and 8. The purposes of the NSCAS assessments are to measure and report Nebraska students'…

Education standards do not flop spectacularly. Their failure gives rise to nothing like the black-and-white films of early aeronautical experiments: no missiles exploding on launch pads or planes tumbling from the sky. But 10 years after 46 of the 50 states adopted the Common Core standards, the lack of evidence that they have improved student…

The 10th anniversary of Common Core's launch offers the opportunity to take stock of the impact these nearly national standards have had on student learning, as well as their future prospects. In this article, Morgan Polikoff shares his view that the standards movement in general, and Common Core in particular, have achieved all they are going to…

The Washington State Board of Education (SBE), with assistance from other state education agencies, reports on the statewide indicators of educational system health established in the Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 28A.150.550 and recommends evidence-based reforms to improve the status of the indicators. The legislation was meant to help the…

Over the last decade, most states have adopted new college- and career-readiness standards in math and English language arts (ELA), standards that call for the mastery of ambitious content and raise expectations for student success and classroom instruction. To support teachers in the implementation of these new, challenging standards, the Center…

This report looks at student achievement levels in Arkansas school districts disaggregated by district poverty and by the district's performance relative to other districts. We estimated district performance statistics by subject and grade level (4, 8, and 11-12) for longitudinal student cohorts, using statistical models that adjusted for district…

The Common Core State Standards, released in 2010, were rapidly adopted by more than 40 states. Champions maintained that these rigorous standards would transform American education, but the initiative went on to encounter a bumpy path. A decade on, what are we to make of this ambitious effort? What kind of impact, if any, has it had on the…

In 2013, the Arizona State University (ASU) Preparatory Academy (ASU Prep) was awarded an Investing in Innovation (i3) Grant through the U.S. Department of Education. The district applied with an ambitious grant designed to innovate programming for a total of six schools: two elementary (one Kindergarten through grade 5; one Kindergarten through…

The majority of rural students attend school in a state where they make up less than 25 percent of public school enrollment. More than one rural student in four lives in states where rural students constitute less than 15 percent of overall enrollment. "Why Rural Matters 2018-19: The Time Is Now," shows that nearly 7.5 million public…