The need for a comprehensive education data governance -- the regulation of who collects what data, how it is used and why -- continues to grow. Technologically, data can be collected by third parties, rendering schools unable to control their use. Legal frameworks partially achieve data governance as businesses continue to exploit existing…

In this article, Amanda Williford, Jason Downer, Kate Miller-Bains, Jenna Conway, and Lisa Howard tell us how a university research center, an early education advocacy group, and a state department of education joined forces in a research-practice partnership to develop and implement a more comprehensive assessment of young Virginia children's…

Social-emotional development in early childhood (EC) is an important factor to their later development and adjustment. While all young children display unwanted behaviors at some time during development, challenging behaviors that occur across settings and over a period of time should be identified and intervened; thus, data collection efforts…

Young students starting school for the first time (e.g., kindergarteners) often benefit from more than typical intensity of behavioral support. Learning new social expectations, routines, and interaction patterns can be daunting. This is an important concern for schools implementing positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS). Learning a…

This study explores the ways in which local students experience housing instability--and how cross-sector strategies can better identify and serve these students. The report accompanying this brief considers a rich set of school administrative data, collected over the course of three school years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic: 2016-17 through…

Early literacy is the foundation of academic success and predicts outcomes far beyond elementary school. So when only 30% of 3rd graders in New York City public schools scored proficient on the state test in 2014, district leaders began targeting improvements in literacy instruction in grades K-2. In 2016, the New York City Department of Education…

In this article the authors describe an instructional unit designed and taught in two classes of kindergarten children. The goals of the unit were to present a "driving question" to motivate the process of statistical investigation, to genuinely engage children in the stages of statistical investigation, and to facilitate them in…

The Kindergarten Observation Tool (KOT), an observation-based assessment tool designed for use during the first 30 instructional days of kindergarten, was implemented across New Mexico in fall of 2016 as the states' kindergarten entry assessment (KEA). After KOT administration ended, a survey was developed aimed to understand how New Mexico…

The Hawai'i State Department of Education is excited to provide a comprehensive menu of engaging summer learning opportunities for students in the upcoming summer months. This summer, offerings will span all grade levels, from a transition program for incoming kindergartners to paid summer internships for our graduating seniors. Schools have…

Teaching students to make daily weather observations is one way educators assist them as they learn to dress appropriately. In addition, it provides a natural and developmentally appropriate link between science and other curriculum areas, such as literacy and language development. The "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS Lead…

Researchers and policy analysts have documented the challenges in collecting pre-K and other early childhood data, and reports on disparities in full-day kindergarten from the Education Commission of the States and the Children's Defense Fund place the disorganized state of kindergarten data on full display. But in both cases, organizations have…

Students in Mrs. Cornell's kindergarten class shared their observations about what happened when drops of water were placed on different types of wood. The students were engaging in a science lesson focusing on the observable properties of wood, an activity from the FOSS Wood and Paper science module. This lesson is one of many that Mrs. Cornell…

This article documents a first project undertaken by kindergarten children and their teacher in a public school in the southeastern United States. Images, work samples, records of children's comments, and the teacher's description tell the story of the project as it unfolds. The authors provide interpretation of the project events documented in…

In today's educational environment, schools struggle to meet the academic needs of every student. Many schools are challenged by the use of a response-to-intervention framework in which too many students need strong interventions. This article details a data-driven, decision-making response-to-intervention reading team model in which teachers,…

Action Potential Science Experience (APSE) is a five-day summer camp offering science opportunities for K-8 students. The focus of the APSE curriculum is to teach science concepts and methods while challenging the participants to solve an overarching problem from the popular-culture context. The participants in the APSE entitled Burger 'N Fries…