To meet the more rigorous expectations embodied in new college- and career-ready standards, students will need teachers who teach in ways that are distinctly different than how most have been teaching. Students will need, for example, English and science teachers who give students more guided practice in reading nonfiction texts that are more…

Good jobs in the nation's twenty-first-century economy require advanced literacy skills such as categorizing, evaluating, and drawing conclusions from written texts. The adoption of the Common Core State Standards by nearly all the states, combined with tough literacy assessments that are now in the offing, will soon reveal that literacy skills of…

In recent years, compelling research has found that mastery of early math concepts at a preschool level is a better predictor of later academic outcomes than literacy. Partly driven by these findings, increasing attention is being focused on improving math pedagogy at the preschool level. The issue has assumed added urgency as a result of…

The 44th annual PDK/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools showed some sharp divisions among the public's attitude toward the public schools, but also some hopeful signs of broad agreement in some areas. Satisfaction with President Barack Obama declined in the last year, but remains ahead of two years ago and the public…

This issue brief was written to assist state policymakers in better understanding how social and emotional learning (SEL) can help students to be college and career ready. The brief provides a short description of what SEL is, why it is needed, and what it looks like in practice. In addition, examples of standards that support SEL at the federal…

Based on data released December 3, 2013, from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), this Alliance for Excellent Education report reveals that the United States struggles to produce top performers in reading, math, and science at the rates of its international peers. These students, who the report calls the "deepest…

The overarching purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the patterns of development and implementation of Body of Evidence (BOE) science systems throughout the state of Wyoming, using an emerging and relatively open mixed methods design. BOEs were first launched throughout Wyoming a decade ago, and are ongoing today. Through interviews…

The adoption of Common Core State Standards has increased the need for assessments capable of measuring more performance-based outcomes. This monograph brings together the current literature and resources for the development and implementation of performance assessment. The text was written as part of a project-based graduate course and has…

The "Annual Joint Report on Pre-Kindergarten through Higher Education in Tennessee" complies with the requirements established in T.C.A. Section 49-1-302(a)(10). The act directs the State Board of Education and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission to provide a report to the Governor and General Assembly, all public schools, and…

English language learners (ELLs) in K-12 schools continue to increase in number across the country. In California alone, about 1.5 million students are not sufficiently proficient in English to perform optimally in mainstream classrooms. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 emphasizes the need for highly qualified teachers, but just who is…

The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) are part of a broader effort coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers to develop common state standards in key subjects. The CCSSM specify content learning goals by grade in K-8 and by conceptual categories in…

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) represent an extraordinary opportunity for education in the U.S.: Not only do they provide for the first time a common platform for states to collaborate and to compare performance, but they also align expectations for student achievement with the demands of college and careers in the 21st century and the…

To increase student learning and achievement, more and more states are pursuing reforms in "both" early care and education (ECE) programs and the K-12 education system. Many states are implementing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) to promote all students' readiness for college and careers, while engaging in reforms prompted by the…

For over 17 years, Boston Day and Evening Academy has served a population of young people often left behind: those who are off track to high school graduation or who have dropped out altogether. Through its competency-based approach, BDEA has tackled one of the toughest education conundrums of our time: how to recover low-skilled students two or…

In response to requirements in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), state policymakers have made concerted efforts to align state standards with state accountability assessments. When strongly aligned and articulated, state standards and assessments can provide a clear and coherent set of expectations for students and educators. How do districts…