Systematic reviews have witnessed significant growth across many fields, including education. In this article, we outline the background of this growth, highlight the tendency to focus on methodological considerations, and propose a framework to support education researchers in preparing systematic reviews with broad impact. We draw on our…

Recent research has examined the influential role coaches may play in supporting teachers' collective capacity building for instructional improvement. While emerging research is promising, much remains to be learned about collaborative approaches to coaching, particularly in schools with the greatest opportunity gaps. We draw on extensive…

This essay offers a framework for broader community involvement as a means of increasing the relevance and usefulness of evidence developed. This essay begins by defining key concepts related to democratizing the development of evidence. The sections that follow outline a logic model that calls for a bidirectional, iterative set of core activities…

Public accountability through information disclosure is a pillar of modern education reform efforts. Despite the ubiquity of this approach, we argue that public accountability in education is undertheorized and often predictably unlikely to achieve its intended policy goals. Drawing on examples from an equity-oriented court case in California and…

In this article, we situate the relatively new wave of technology-enabled personalized learning platforms within the broader policy context of institutional accountability. Although many education technology innovations were developed in response to heightened accountability pressures, technology-enabled personalization introduces new…

Longitudinal administrative data generated by public education systems in the United States have become increasingly available and have tremendous potential to inform policy research. While it is tempting to take the accuracy of administrative data for granted, there are reasons why researchers should approach these data with a degree of caution.…

Although adaptive teaching is considered a cornerstone of effective instruction, there remains a lack of focus on teacher adaptability in policy, professional practice, and teacher education in the United States. High-profile educational reform efforts have pressured districts and states across the nation to rely on prescriptive curricula that…

The use of test scores as a performance measure in high-stakes educational accountability has become increasingly popular since the enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), which imposed sanctions such as the threat of losing federal funds unless a state implemented a school accountability system that measures student progress…

Recent efforts to improve the quality and availability of scientific research in education, coupled with increased expectations for the use of research in practice, demand new ways of thinking about connections between research and practice. The conceptual framework presented in this paper argues that increasing research in educational…

The environment of U.S. schools has changed dramatically over a quarter century as standards tied to test-based accountability and market competition became commonplace. We examine the issues that school systems face in this changing environment, to identify considerations for researchers interested in reform as educational system building. We…

This study identifies seven major trends in how states and districts are implementing college- and career-ready standards for general education students and for two special populations often the target of education policy--English language learners (ELLs) and students with disabilities (SWDs). We draw on state-representative teacher, principal,…

Drawing on an integrative review of the literature on the privatization of education and an empirical case study of technology corporations in education, this article examines the corporate within the political economy of education. It argues that by analytically conceiving of corporations under the banner of the private sphere and,…

New Orleans schools experienced drastic reforms after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. To examine teachers' perspectives on these reforms, we surveyed 323 teachers who taught in New Orleans public schools before 2005 and in 2013-2014. Teachers directly compared the learning and work environments and student and teacher outcomes of their current schools…

In this commentary, the author states that, as the contributions of the focal articles make clear, there is much to learn about how value-added models (VAMs) are actually used in a variety of settings. Indeed, it is important to remember that VAM scores are but one component of a complex evaluation system that can play out differently in different…

When No Child Left Behind (NCLB) became law in 2002, it was viewed as an effort to create uniform standards for students and schools across the country. More than a decade later, we know surprisingly little about how states actually implemented NCLB and the extent to which state implementation decisions managed to undo the centralizing objectives…