New Survey from CAP: Districts Not Investing Enough in Human Capital

Posted on February 7, 2017January 30, 2017 by coreeducation

To succeed in today’s economy, organizations must invest in the skills, knowledge and abilities of their staff – i.e. human capital – to maximize their performance. Ranging from talent recruitment, to creating workplace practices and environments that encourage employees to develop and stay, these tactics are being used by organizations throughout the country to be Read more about New Survey from CAP: Districts Not Investing Enough in Human Capital[…]

Running in Place: How New Teacher Evaluations Fail to Live Up to Promises

Posted on February 6, 2017January 30, 2017 by coreeducation

National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), a non-partisan research and policy organization dedicated to ensuring every classroom has a high quality teacher, has released a new report on the effects of recent reforms of state teacher evaluation policies on teacher effectiveness ratings. The report examines teacher evaluation policies in the 30 states that require objective Read more about Running in Place: How New Teacher Evaluations Fail to Live Up to Promises[…]

The Teacher Evaluation Revamp, In Hindsight

Posted on February 3, 2017January 27, 2017 by coreeducation

Chad Aldeman of Bellwether Partners recently provided a reflection on teacher evaluation reform during the Obama presidency in Education Next. Excerpts of his insightful piece appear below: When President Obama took office in 2009, his administration quickly seized on teacher evaluations as an important public-policy problem. Today, much of his legacy on K-12 education rests Read more about The Teacher Evaluation Revamp, In Hindsight[…]

Five Key Trends in U.S. Student Performance

Posted on February 2, 2017January 27, 2017 by coreeducation

In 15 years of increasing average test scores, black-white and Hispanic-white student achievement gaps continue to close, and Asian students are pulling away from whites in both math and reading achievement. For the improving groups, these long-term trends may be a major educational success story. In stark contrast, Hispanic and Asian students who are English Read more about Five Key Trends in U.S. Student Performance[…]

Big Problems in How Schools Hire Teachers and How to Solve Them

Posted on February 1, 2017January 27, 2017 by coreeducation

Every year schools must hire new teachers to replace the nearly 15 percent who leave annually. But what if schools are doing it wrong? Matt Barnum digs through some surprising research which shows that many schools and districts don’t require prospective teachers to perform a single model lesson, aren’t actively recruiting teachers of color and Read more about Big Problems in How Schools Hire Teachers and How to Solve Them[…]

The Fog of “College Readiness”

Posted on January 31, 2017March 3, 2020 by coreeducation

Chester E. Finn, Jr., distinguished senior fellow and president emeritus at the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, recently reflected on the illusion of college readiness for National Affairs. Excerpts from his piece appear below: Our K-12 education system has a transparency problem, and our higher-education system is complicit. While some American parents have a decent sense Read more about The Fog of “College Readiness”[…]

The Educator Pipeline: Turnover, Fewer Applicants Will Impact Student Achievement

Posted on January 30, 2017January 27, 2017 by coreeducation

Concerned about retention and recruitment of teachers, principals, and administrators, Learning First Alliance member organizations are looking to build stronger pipelines and supports for these critical roles in student learning. The Educator Pipeline discusses the challenges each profession faces, and why this issue is key to our nation’s economic future. The report explores the Read more about The Educator Pipeline: Turnover, Fewer Applicants Will Impact Student Achievement[…]

Why States Should Focus More on School Climate Under ESSA

Posted on January 27, 2017January 23, 2017 by coreeducation

Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, states are allowed to include at least one non-academic indicator of school quality or student success within their accountability systems. The law lays out several possibilities: student engagement, educator engagement, student access to–and completion of–advanced coursework, postsecondary readiness, and school climate. In a new essay, professors Amity Noltemeyer and Read more about Why States Should Focus More on School Climate Under ESSA[…]

Landscapes in Teacher Prep: Undergraduate Elementary Education

Posted on January 26, 2017January 23, 2017 by coreeducation

The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has released new ratings for 875 undergraduate elementary teacher preparation programs. The latest Teacher Prep Review found evidence that the nation’s top programs–those that graduate teachers well versed in both evidence-based content and methods of teaching–are not all the nation’s best known elite universities, but include Purdue University, Read more about Landscapes in Teacher Prep: Undergraduate Elementary Education[…]

Evidence-Based Improvement: A Guide to the Evidence Requirements of ESSA

Posted on January 25, 2017January 23, 2017 by coreeducation

One of the broad intents of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is to encourage evidence-based decision-making as standard practice. This new, free publication from WestEd, Evidence-Based Improvement: A Guide for States to Strengthen their Frameworks and Supports Aligned to the Evidence Requirements of ESSA, provides an initial set of tools to help states Read more about Evidence-Based Improvement: A Guide to the Evidence Requirements of ESSA[…]

Rubric for Evaluating Reading/Language Arts Instructional Materials for Grades K-5

Posted on January 24, 2017January 23, 2017 by coreeducation

Selecting instructional materials based on rigorous research and standards is an important and time-consuming job at the state, district, and school levels. To facilitate this process, Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast has developed a rubric for evaluating reading/language arts instructional and intervention materials for use in elementary grades (K-5). The rubric is organized by content area Read more about Rubric for Evaluating Reading/Language Arts Instructional Materials for Grades K-5[…]

Six Unifying Education Policy Ideas for 2017

Posted on January 23, 2017 by coreeducation

Robin Lake of the Center on Reinventing Public Education has offered six education policy ideas that just may get us through the presidential transition. Excerpts of her piece appear below: Polarization was the theme of 2016, and we’d be kidding ourselves to think that will be much different in 2017. Still, there has rarely been Read more about Six Unifying Education Policy Ideas for 2017[…]

PARCC Resources for 2017 Assessment Preparation

Posted on January 20, 2017January 15, 2017 by coreeducation

With the spring 2017 PARCC administration season set to begin in March, the consortium has made a wealth of resources available to help parents, teachers, and students all prepare for this year’s testing. Over the past two years, more than 1,300 authentic released items from PARCC assessments have been published on the Partnership Resource Center Read more about PARCC Resources for 2017 Assessment Preparation[…]

Multiple Measures Done Right: The 7 Principles of Coherent Assessment Systems

Posted on January 19, 2017January 13, 2017 by coreeducation

With the new ESSA regulations requiring accountability systems based on multiple measures, a new guide from researchers at the not-for-profit NWEA provides educators with actionable steps they can begin implementing immediately. Multiple Measures Done Right outlines the seven principles of developing coherent assessment systems that go beyond compliance to support student learning. The guide was Read more about Multiple Measures Done Right: The 7 Principles of Coherent Assessment Systems[…]

Evidence Review of School Leadership Interventions Under ESSA

Posted on January 18, 2017January 13, 2017 by coreeducation

Recognizing that effective leadership is essential to most school improvement efforts, the new federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) enables states and districts to use certain major funding sources to help achieve their school improvement goals by supporting principals and other school leaders. Because those funding streams urge consideration of evidence of effectiveness, Wallace commissioned Read more about Evidence Review of School Leadership Interventions Under ESSA[…]

“It Turns Out Spending More Probably Does Improve Education”

Posted on January 17, 2017January 13, 2017 by coreeducation

If you spend more on education, will students do better? For many years, research on the relationship between spending and student learning has been surprisingly inconclusive. Many other factors, including student poverty, parental education and the way schools are organized, contribute to educational results. Teasing out the specific effect of money spent is methodologically difficult. Read more about “It Turns Out Spending More Probably Does Improve Education”[…]