Despite the prevalence of student learning objectives (SLOs) in teacher evaluation systems throughout the United States, research on the validity of student and teacher SLO scores used for high-stakes decisions is lacking. For this reason, this dissertation is comprised of two chapters that examine student and teacher-level SLO performance data…

This resource was prepared in response to a request for information about how the six Phase 3 ELC States (Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Vermont) are leveraging ELC funds and other State funds to support inclusion. This information will be helpful to other States as they consider how to continue to increase the quality…

This State-specific summary report serves as an assessment of the District of Columbia's Year 1 Race to the Top implementation, highlighting successes and accomplishments, identifying challenges, and providing lessons learned from implementation to date. The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) manages the District of Columbia…

This State-specific summary report serves as an assessment of Delaware's Year 1 Race to the Top implementation, highlighting successes and accomplishments, identifying challenges, and providing lessons learned from implementation to date. Delaware created new structures at the State level to support both State and LEA (local education agency) Race…

This State-specific summary report serves as an assessment of Florida's Year 1 Race to the Top implementation, highlighting successes and accomplishments, identifying challenges, and providing lessons learned from implementation to date. Florida received a Race to the Top award in September 2010 as part of Phase 2 of the Race to the Top…

This State-specific summary report serves as an assessment of Georgia's Year 1 Race to the Top implementation, highlighting successes and accomplishments, identifying challenges, and providing lessons learned from implementation to date. Georgia's first-year accomplishments include awarding the State's first five Race to the Top Innovation Fund…

This State-specific summary report serves as an assessment of Hawaii's Year 1 Race to the Top implementation, highlighting successes and accomplishments, identifying challenges, and providing lessons learned from implementation to date. This past year, Hawaii significantly improved collaboration among the Governor's Office, the HIDOE (Hawaii…

This State-specific summary report serves as an assessment of Maryland's Year 1 Race to the Top implementation, highlighting successes and accomplishments, identifying challenges, and providing lessons learned from implementation to date. Maryland's Year 1 accomplishments include critical capacity-building at the Maryland State Department of…

This chapter addresses the psychometric challenges in assessing English language learners (ELLs) and students with disabilities (SWDs). The first section addresses some general considerations in the assessment of ELLs and SWDs, including the prevalence of ELLs and SWDs in the student population, federal and state legislation that requires the…

The decade following the publication of the No Child Left Behind Act 2001 was an innovative period with respect to inclusive assessment practices for students with disabilities (SWDs). As the United States educational policies under the Obama Administration's Race to the Top initiative re-conceive the inclusion of SWDs in state assessment-based…

As the Race-to-the-Top Assessment Consortia develop their assessments, they will need to develop shared accommodations policies to ensure that their tests are used in consistent ways across the participating states. Developing a common set of accommodations policies will require that Consortium members recognize the divergent viewpoints that…

The Department has developed a Race to the Top program review process that not only addresses the Department's responsibilities for fiscal and programmatic oversight, but is designed to identify areas to differentiate support based on individual State needs, as well as certain topics where States can leverage work with each other and with experts…

The State-specific summary report serves as an assessment of Massachusetts' Year 1 Race to the Top implementation, highlighting successes and accomplishments, identifying challenges, and providing lessons learned from implementation to date. Massachusetts' Year 1 accomplishments include: capacity building within its Department of Elementary and…

This State-specific summary report serves as an assessment of North Carolina's Year 1 Race to the Top implementation, highlighting successes and accomplishments, identifying challenges, and providing lessons learned from implementation to date. Delaware created new structures at the State level to support both State and LEA (local education…

This State-specific summary report serves as an assessment of Ohio's Year 1 Race to the Top implementation, highlighting successes and accomplishments, identifying challenges, and providing lessons learned from implementation to date. Prior to the first year of its Race to the Top grant, Ohio revised some Ohio Department of Education (ODE) job…