High-quality early childhood programs aim to foster children's learning through developmentally appropriate practices and environments. Early childhood assessments, when well designed and well implemented, can support developmentally appropriate early learning experiences by providing information to guide instruction and support whole child…

Purpose: With a growing need to assess multiple aspects of healthcare education, the goal of this study was to develop an innovative web-based application to streamline assessment processes and meet the increasingly complex role of the educational manager. Design/methodology/approach: AARDVARC (Automated Approach to Reviewing and Developing…

Because the pandemic exacerbated chronic absenteeism in many parts of the country, the need to understand how schools can improve student attendance has never been greater. Accordingly, this study breaks new ground by examining high schools' contributions to attendance after accounting for individual students' prior absenteeism and other…

California is taking a bold new approach to the evaluation of school performance, the provision of data to parents and educators, and the use of accountability to improve student learning. Broadly speaking, the state is stepping away from the consequential accountability that was compelled under No Child Left Behind and toward a system that relies…

For the past decade and a half, the fight to improve America's schools has been fought largely on two fronts: academic standards as one battleground, and accountability the other, with the issue of mandatory testing adding heat to a very public--and increasingly politicized--debate. The questions for policymakers and educators are as direct as…

The Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching initiative, which was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, was a multiyear effort to improve student outcomes--particularly high school graduation and college attendance among low-income minority students--by increasing student access to effective teaching. The RAND Corporation worked…

This report offers a framework for districts to use in their preparation to provide quality instruction through distance and blended models. In the wake of COVID-19, "teaching as usual" will be neither possible nor sufficient to meet students' needs because California's schools have experienced disruptions to each aspect of the…

The last decade produced numerous studies that show that students learn more from high-quality teachers than they do from lower quality teachers. If instruction is to improve through the use of more rigorous teacher evaluation systems, the implementation of these systems must provide consistent and interpretable information about which aspects of…

This policy brief examines standards-based approaches that hold promise for shaping a common vision of skilled teaching commensurate with the national goal of preparing all students for college and careers. Numerous studies confirm that teachers are the most significant school-based factor in improving student achievement, particularly for the…

One large state university system took the initiative to establish an institutional system of accountability that simultaneously met external and internal purposes. (Contains 1 table.)

In order to assess how completely a Small Learning Community (SLC) and/or Career Academy is implemented in any given site, and to connect the degree of implementation with the amount of improvement in student performance, two kinds of information are needed. The first is information on the quality of implementation, which can be collected by…

The education system in California today is unable to meet the needs of the state's economy or the expectations of its citizens. From school finance to ensuring the quality of teaching, from assessment and accountability to preparing students for college and careers, education policy today in California often works against the best interests of…

Over the past two decades the interest and use of student portfolios for assessing student learning outcomes has grown considerably. This paper presents an overview of the portfolio approach to outcome assessment adopted by the Department of Management at California State University, San Bernardino and discusses major issues encountered over six…

California shares the national concern for the state of its educational system. The legislature of California has attempted to develop testing procedures that would accurately reflect the level of achievement of students in California schools. (CK)

California's program review process has been designed to judge the effects of the school program on students and staff and to identify opportunities for improving the program. The majority of program reviews are conducted by representatives of the State Department of Education and by consortia of school districts. These program reviewers will use…