The Wisconsin School Violence and Bullying Prevention Study, funded by the National Institutes of Justice (NIJ), was a two-year case-control study in 24 Wisconsin middle schools (11 experimental; 13 control) seeking to understand the impact of a comprehensive bullying prevention program on bullying victimization rates. Participating schools'…

Common universal screening methods for determining math risk in middle school grades may not result in optimal diagnostic accuracy. We evaluated current screening practices and several potential modifications for predicting math proficiency on an end-of-year state test in a suburban school district. Previously, the district used the Measures of…

This project aimed to develop an engaging formative assessment that simulates the social and dialogic processes that are often missing in traditional instruction and assessment of argumentation. In this article, we describe the design of an argumentative reasoning task within a scenario-based assessment enhanced with game elements…

Fidelity of implementation of school practices is crucial to student outcomes. Several types of tools, including self-assessments, are available for measuring fidelity, but little is known regarding the relation of self-assessments of fidelity to fidelity instruments completed with the support of external experts, specifically, during the first…

The Striving Readers program aimed to raise the literacy levels of middle and high school students reading below grade level and to build a strong research base on effective adolescent literacy interventions. This report summarizes the results of a systematic review of evaluations of the ten different interventions funded by the Striving Readers…

Reading Apprenticeship is a research-based professional learning model and instructional framework designed by the Strategic Literacy Initiative (SLI) at WestEd to improve student literacy and learning. Based on understandings of the close relationship between curricular reform and professional development (Heller & Greenleaf, 2007), Reading…

High-quality teacher preparation programs are pivotal to the success of initial educators, which in turn leads to the success of students. Initial educators have recently perceived to feel inadequately prepared to deliver high quality literacy instruction upon completion of their teacher preparation program. The purpose of this qualitative case…

Major teacher evaluation changes have occurred across the nation during the past decade. Pressed by federal education initiatives and encouraged by research on promising teacher evaluation practices, states and school districts have implemented evaluation systems using new measures of educator practice and student learning. A growing body of…

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to examine the utility of framing formative feedback to improve school leadership with a focus on task-based evaluation of distributed leadership rather than on role-based evaluation of an individual leader. Research Methods/Approach: Using data from research on the development of the Comprehensive…

Several states have changed their statewide achievement tests over the past 5 years. These changes may pose difficulties for educators tasked with identifying students in need of additional support. This study evaluated the stability of decision-making accuracy estimates across changes to the statewide achievement test. We analyzed extant data…

In school districts across the nation, diverse student groups, including English Learners and students with disabilities, have been experiencing significant gains in reading performance after using READ 180. This compendium of READ 180 research contains results of 40 studies conducted in a variety of settings, in school districts across the…

In the United States, approximately 65 percent of all jobs in 2020 will require some level of postsecondary education, and the demand will reach 68 percent in Iowa. This report seeks to inform public discourse on higher education by providing key performance indicators relevant to the goal of improving educational attainment for a healthy economy…

In the United States, approximately 65 percent of all jobs in 2020 will require some level of postsecondary education, and the demand will reach 62 percent in Wisconsin. This report seeks to inform public discourse on higher education by providing key performance indicators relevant to the goal of improving educational attainment for a healthy…

As expectations for improvements in public K-12 education continue, principals and teachers need to collaborate for continuous school improvement. Innovative change is needed to meet the needs of students. Michael Fullan's change theory (1993) identified many inhibitors to change, such as the human tendency to avoid change due to vulnerability and…

In the United States, approximately 65 percent of all jobs in 2020 will require some level of postsecondary education, and the demand will reach 62 percent in Wisconsin. This report seeks to inform public discourse on higher education by providing key performance indicators relevant to the goal of improving educational attainment in Wisconsin.…