In a data-driven school culture, there is an institutionalized willingness to use numbers systematically to reveal important patterns and answer focused questions about policy, methods, and outcomes. A central data team relies on input from teachers, ultimately responsible for student success. Massachusetts applications and examples are described.…

To make sense of the complex information taught in the upper elementary grades -- and to understand the language that increasingly appears in high-stakes tests--students must be proficient in academic English. English language learners are at a serious disadvantage. Two word problems in mathematics illustrate the difficulties that these students…