In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, K-12 schools are under immense pressure to meet the diverse needs of students. But policies and practices have not evolved quickly enough to meet those needs -- and as a result, the system continues to fail far too many young people. In "Levers of Change: How State Policies Support District…

Approximately 30 states are now adopting teacher evaluation policies that include student learning objectives (SLOs), which are classroom-specific student test growth targets set by teachers and approved (and scored) by principals. Today state and district leaders are trying to determine the appropriate level of guidance and oversight to provide…

Career and technical education (CTE) is increasingly seen as a major potential contributor to the recovery of the U.S. economy. However, the effectiveness and impact of the current Carl D. Perkins Act (otherwise known as Perkins IV) that governs CTE are unclear. Is the federal investment in CTE paying off? To answer this, we need to establish the…

The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) is working to respond to increased interest in the use of growth models for school accountability. Growth models are based on tracking change in individual student achievement scores over multiple years. While growth models have been used for decades in academic research and program evaluation, a…

Alternate assessments are the means through which students with significant cognitive disabilities participate in accountability testing, thus measurement validity of alternate assessments is a critical aspect of state educational accountability systems. When evaluating the validity of assessment systems, it is important to take a broad view of…

Utah's Alternate Assessment (UAA) is one of six components of the Utah Performance Assessment System for Students (U-PASS). UAA is designed to assess the achievement of students in grades 1 through 12 with significant cognitive disabilities. It was developed to fulfill two main purposes: (1) To address federal legislative mandates that all…

The Utah System of Higher Education's method for appraising presidents is described as a mirror effect to provide the results of confidential interviews conducted with a variety of competent individuals knowledgeable about the work of presidents. The procedures are outlined and four benefits are cited. (MLW)

In a review of statewide plans for assessing student learning at institutions of higher education, this paper argues that assessment, carefully planned to focus on students, can lead to an improvement in the communication and understanding between the academy and the polity. A brief section on the role of statewide assessment places it in a…

This year the Center on Education Policy analyzed data on the achievement of different groups of students in two distinct ways. First, it looked at grade 4 test results to determine whether the performance of various groups improved at three achievement levels--basic and above, proficient and above, and advanced. Second, it looked at gaps between…