Measures of Academic Progress® (MAP®) computer adaptive interim assessments serve many purposes, from informing instruction to identifying students for intervention to projecting proficiency on state accountability assessments. To make sure its flagship product does the latter, Northwest Evaluation Association™ (NWEA™) routinely conducts studies…

This memorandum provides a summary of the indicators of college- and career-readiness used in nine states: Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Utah. This scan was conducted at the request of the California Comprehensive Center, and focuses on data from states' Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)…

STEM education has received significant attention in the USA and is largely fueled by rhetoric suggesting the USA is losing its global competitive edge and that there is a lack of qualified workers available to fill growing STEM jobs. However, a counter discourse is emerging that questions the legitimacy of these claims. In response, we employed…

Recently, the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (Smarter Balanced) released a document that established initial performance levels and the associated threshold scale scores for the Smarter Balanced assessment. The report included estimated percentages of students expected to perform at each of the four performance levels, reported by grade…

As states are working to align their education systems with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in support of the goal of graduating all students ready for college, careers and life, academic and career and technical education (CTE) leaders at the state and local levels can and should maximize this opportunity to finally break down the silos…

Education Sector commissioned an earlier version of this collection of essays in conjunction with a March 2012 event "Getting to 2014: The Choices and Challenges Ahead." This updated version includes new essays and a revised introduction. The aim of these essays is to present ideas, elicit feedback, and encourage productive dialogue…

This report provides information about the performance of Illinois' 2016 graduating seniors who took the ACT as sophomores, juniors, or seniors; and self-reported at the time of testing that they were scheduled to graduate in 2016. Beginning with the Graduating Class of 2013, all students whose scores are college reportable, both standard and…

The National Governors Association (NGA) and The Hunt Institute co-hosted the 2013 Governors Education Symposium. To inform participants and generate conversation about the themes of the symposium, the two organizations developed a set of issue briefs discussing four areas: (1) college- and career-training ready standards; (2) building coalitions…

Annually, ACT provides each state with "The Condition of College & Career Readiness," a report that details the college readiness of students who took the ACT[R] test. This report is a companion to "The Condition of College & Career Readiness." This paper traces the college enrollment, retention, re-enrollment, and…

Annually, ACT provides a snapshot of the college and career readiness of ACT-tested high school graduates. This report is offered as a service to inform policymakers and practitioners about selected indicators of effectiveness and how that translates into readiness. It is designed to stimulate discussion, inquiry, and action. This report is…

This report provides information about the performance of Illinois's 2012 graduating seniors who took the ACT as sophomores, juniors, or seniors; and self-reported at the time of testing that they were scheduled to graduate in 2012 and tested under standard time conditions. This report focuses on: (1) Performance: student test performance in the…

This generation of young people is on track to be less-educated than their parents--for the first time in American history. This, at the same time the world and workplace are changing dramatically and rapidly--when students, more than ever, need high levels of skill in order to compete. Advance Illinois has developed this report "We Can Do…

Now that all 50 states and the District of Columbia are building statewide longitudinal data systems, the next step is to ensure that the information in these systems is used to improve student learning. The Data Quality Campaign (DQC) has identified 10 actions that states can take to ensure that the right data are available and accessible and…