Does the Common Core State Standards' focus on informational text mean that teachers must teach fiberglass installation manuals and the minutes of National Reserve Board meetings? No, responds literacy expert Timothy Shanahan. "I've pored over the lists of exemplary texts suggested by the standards, and I've not been able to…

High school is boring, writes the author, in part because lock-step diploma requirements crowd out personalized and engaged learning. It is also boring because current content standards are based on traditional, subject-area notions of curriculum instead of on the essential question, What do students need to be well prepared for their adult lives?…

Professional assessment organizations almost universally endorse the use of multiple measures for making education decisions. In practice, however, the concept of multiple measures is defined and applied in many different ways, depending on how we answer two questions--What counts as a "measure"? and How are the multiple measures…

Because they focus on the quality of instruction, teacher evaluations can be powerful catalysts for teacher and school improvement. But today, the typical teacher evaluation consists of a single, fleeting classroom visit by an administrator untrained in evaluation. Often he or she wields a checklist of classroom conditions and teacher behaviors…

The author, director of the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project, tackles the following question: Should the United States have national standards with teeth, that is, a single set of standards tied to assessments and agreed to by the states? Proponents advance five main arguments for implementing such a standard. In his rebuttal, the…

Asserts that the School Leaders Licensure Assessment required for administrator certification in several states effectively bridges the gap between theory and practice. Describes scoring training for professors and school administrators. (PKP)

Argues that the School Leaders Licensure Assessment required for administrator certification in several states promotes a narrow, mainstream concept of instructional leadership. (PKP)

Shows how three award-winning female physical-education teachers are using technology to facilitate both learning and meaningful assessment, in keeping with seven content standards promulgated by the National Association of Sport and Physical Education. These teachers are using videotaping, high- and low-tech self-measurement devices, heart…

A teacher member of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards describes the board's mission as enriching teacher preparation and making schools better places for learning. During the second phase of the board's strategic plan, members will research and develop standards and assessment instruments for 34 certification fields and devise…

The Center for Children and Families at the Education Development Center, Inc., is working with Harvard University on the Home-School Study. By following 60 children over a 10-year period, they are identifying the types of environments and teaching practices that stimulate language and literacy development. The amount of writing children did in…

To emphasize the belief that parents are a child's first teachers, the National Parent Teacher Association has developed new guidelines that support family involvement in schools. To improve family involvement, educators should create an action team, examine current practice, develop an improvement plan, develop a written family/parent involvement…

Demoralized by disappearing dollars and omission of the arts from national education goals, the arts education community has formed a consortium of professional organizations to write standards and address related issues, such as balance among the arts and multicultural and technological concerns. To anchor the arts firmly in the curriculum, they…

Nicholas Tate is chief executive of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in England, set up by Parliament, in October 1997, to oversee the national curriculum. In this interview, Tate describes the British National Curriculum, national tests, and the promotion of moral education. The national papers publish massive supplements showing…

Briefly summarizes findings in nine research reports that generally support the integration of reading and content-area instruction. (PKP)

Within the next decade, national standards describing essential outcomes in various school subjects could become the glue holding together curriculum frameworks and guides, textbook adoption, staff development, and student assessment. This article discusses confusion over definitions and intentions, raises questions about delivery and assessment…