On January 22, 2023, the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) released high school graduation rates for the State of Florida and the District. The FY23 Federal High School Graduation Rate includes standard diplomas but excludes special diplomas and General Education Diplomas (GEDs). Students with Disabilities (SWD) on Access Points curriculum…

In 2013 and 2018, the National Science and Technology Counsel (NSTC) released reports to raise awareness about the rapid growth in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) occupations. One of the ways states are addressing the projected increases in STEM careers and the lack of growth in how many students are pursuing STEM…

I revisit the so-called Illinois Decision of 1955, which eliminated basic writing from the University of Illinois Rhetoric Program and caused a chain of similar programmatic actions on other campuses nationwide. I contend that reviewing and archiving the Illinois Decision as a locally specific act with multiple actors besides WPA Charles Roberts…

A high school English department collaboratively addressed the issue of college-readiness in writing while utilizing a focused four-phase leadership model to guide their efforts. Although this discussion highlights the strategic use of writing rubrics, it is the intention to share the benefits of using the four phases of collaborative teacher…

The purpose of this paper is to take a closer look at the states that have designed strong history standards and note what has made them exceptional so other states might do the same. They include Alabama, California, Indiana, Massachusetts, New York, and South Carolina. The report draws on interviews with individuals from each state who sat on…

Each year, the Rennie Center collects state-level indicators in our Data Dashboard to provide context on the condition of education in the Commonwealth. This data is collected from the MA Department of Early Education and Care; MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education; MA Department of Higher Education; U.S Census Bureau; and U.S.…

The Center on Innovations in Learning (CIL) is a national content center established to work with regional comprehensive centers and state education agencies (SEA) to build SEAs' capacity to stimulate, select, implement, and scale up innovation in learning. This report is a collection of evidence ratings and practice briefs. The categories for…

With science teachers facing comprehensive curriculum reform that will shape science education for decades to come, high school department chairs represent a critical resource for instructional leadership and teacher support. While the historical literature on the department chair indicates that chairs are in prime positions to provide…

In this paper, I provide a window into the lived experience of a group of urban high school science students confronted with the stigma associated with special education, disability, and academic failure and present tools to understanding the ideological forces and institutional structures that undermine the ability of schools to create a culture…

This study examines Kentucky high school students' participation and pass rates in college preparatory transition courses, voluntary remedial courses in math and reading offered to grade 12 students. These courses are targeted to students scoring just below the state's college readiness benchmarks on the ACT in grade 11. The study found that:…

In this article, I provide findings from a multisite case study of three urban high schools. In each of the schools, principals endeavoured to foster the capabilities of their department chairs to enhance school-wide instructional capacity and increase student achievement. Data were gathered from interviews, participant observations and document…

The division of college, career and technical education (CCTE) of the Tennessee Department of Education established the office of postsecondary coordination and alignment in 2012 for the purpose of expanding and promoting early postsecondary opportunities (EPSOs) for all high school students across the state. The office is also charged with…

This technical report provides an overview of the New York State Alternate Assessment (NYSAA), including a description of the purpose of the NYSAA, the processes utilized to develop and implement the NYSAA program, and Stakeholder involvement in those processes. By comparing the intent of the NYSAA with its process and design, the validity of the…

This paper is based on case-study research in four English secondary schools. It explores the pressure placed on English and mathematics departments because of their results being reported in annual performance tables. It examines how English and maths departments enact policies of achievement, the additional power and extra resources the pressure…

In this article, we investigate the change forces that act on administrators, subject department chairpersons and teachers as they seek to implement a change in a Canadian secondary school. Using a case study methodology, our analysis of the data uses Sergiovanni's (1998) six change forces: bureaucratic, personal, market, professional, cultural,…