Implementing new college and career readiness standards, along with readying teachers and students for new assessments, is a monumental undertaking by multiple national, state, and local education leaders and organizations. One critical policy area for states to consider is supports for educator preparation programs to ensure that new teachers…

This report details the story of the Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) Grant in Washington for the period of 2012-2016. It provides detailed reflections on the state's accomplishments over the grant period, shares the enhanced vision for the RTT-ELC in Washington, and provides specific details about what has changed in the state…

This Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) annual performance report for the year 2014 describes Washington's accomplishments, lessons learned, challenges, and strategies Washington will implement to address those challenges. Year 3 of Washington's Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) was one of refinement and…

The Early Learning Challenge (ELC) program awarded more than $1 billion in four-year grants to 20 States to implement comprehensive and cohesive high-quality early learning systems that support young children with high needs and their families. A key lever in making these improvements was the enhancement of States' Quality Rating and Improvement…

Improving teacher preparation is critical to long-term improvement in teacher quality. More than 200,000 new teachers enter classrooms each year. Increasing student enrollment, the retirement of baby boom generation teachers, and high attrition in their first five years (between 40 and 50 percent of new teachers leave the profession) have…

School boards have always recognized the improvement of student achievement as central to their role in governing public schools. The Washington State Education Reform Act and the Federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) have, however, significantly affected the way schools go about educating students and the way boards hold schools accountable for…

English language learners (ELLs) with disabilities are an increasing presence in schools in the United States. Title I and Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act require that these students meet the same academic grade-level standards and participate in content assessments as their fluent-English speaking peers without…

This individual profile provides information on Washington's high school exit exam standards and policies. Some of the categories presented include: (1) State exit exam policy; (2) Type of Test; (3) Purpose; (4) Major changes in exit exam policy since the 2009-10 school year for financial reasons; (5) Subjects tested on exam; (6) Grade exam first…

Because teachers' efforts are central to the success of standards-based reform, it behooves the policy community to look carefully at the beliefs about instruction that are rooted in this reform theory. Building on teacher-centric research on standards-based reform and ideas about teaching practice from research on multicultural education, this…

Flexibility and accountability are two levers for change that occupy an increasingly prominent place among federal strategies for educational improvement. In return for introducing higher academic standards and performance-based accountability systems, states and districts have been granted increasing flexibility over how they may use the funding…

In the early 1990s, Washington State was in the vanguard of the standards movement. By 1994, the National Business Roundtable rated Washington as one of four states that had enacted the most complete standards-based reform program. Washington political and business leaders intended to transform public education from a bureaucracy controlled by…

This booklet is designed to help parents understand how Washington schools are raising their academic standards. It also points out questions parents should ask about their children's schools and describes some at-home activities that will help a child make the most of time in and out of the classroom. The educational improvement effort in…

Legislative and programmatic efforts to improve teacher quality have become a major focus of state policymaking in recent years. States have employed numerous strategies in response to concerns about the preparation, quantity, and capacity of the teacher workforce. In this chapter, the authors introduce conceptual frameworks for understanding…

This issue of the quarterly publication focuses on Achieving Secondary Education and Transition Results for Students with Disabilities. Editorial introduction notes that today's educational systems are being called upon to re-examine how they prepare students with disabilities for adult life. The shift toward greater participation by students with…

This newsletter reports on the activities of Equipped for the Future (EFF), which is a National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) initiative that develops content standards to ensure that every adult can gain the knowledge and skills needed to fulfill real-world responsibilities as workers, parents, and citizens. A message from the NIFL…