A new AEI paper by Jonathan Wai and Frank C. Worrell, “Fully Developing the Potential of Academically Advanced Students: Helping Them Will Help Society” argues that gifted students are often left out of education reform conversations. In the $59.8 billion 2015 federal education budget, one dollar was spent on gifted Read more
Mark Tucker, writing for the Top Performers blog, recently weighed in on a discussion about the value of Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) by providing an international perspective. Excerpts from his piece appear below: One of the things that has really impressed us about the schools serving very vulnerable children Read more
Since technology in classrooms looks very different from almost a decade ago when ISTE last released its standards for teachers, the organization has released newly updated ISTE Standards for Educators. The Standards are designed to support educators with a framework for learning, teaching and leading amplified by technology. There are Read more
The Education Commission of the States is out with a new policy snapshot that explores competency-based education and provides an overview of current and previous legislation related to this approach. The main goal of competency-based education serves to award credit/degrees to students for meeting specific skill competencies agreed upon by Read more
The bipartisan Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed into law in December 2015, replacing No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The passage of ESSA turned control of the country’s K-12 education system back over to the states, giving local legislatures more flexibility surrounding decisions about standards, assessments and other accountability Read more
By September of this year, states will be submitting their state plans to meet the new standards under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). As part of the equity requirements of the policy, states are required to formulate policies that ensure historically disenfranchised students are not disproportionately taught by ineffective Read more
State policy plays a critical role in determining whether and how well local education improvement strategies can be implemented. As states rework their education policies under ESSA, state and local leaders need a way to assess their current policy environment and identify the changes needed to encourage local innovation and Read more
Rick Hess, of the American Enterprise Institute, has released two 60-second videos discussing school reform. “The solution of little ‘r’ school reform” If onerous regulations don’t improve education, what will? Rick Hess, AEI’s Director of Education Policy Studies, says that empowering teachers to make decisions is the way to high-performing Read more
A new guide, co-created by the Council for Chief State School Officers, Collaborative Communications Group, Data Quality Campaign, ExcelinEd, Learning Heroes and National PTA, helps states break down the process for creating report cards that are easy for parents and the public to access and understand. The State Guide to Read more
Andy Smarick, writing for AEI, has penned a piece on the shortcomings of efficiency as an educational goal. Excerpts from his article appear below: There are very good reasons to resist (or at least be skeptical of) efforts to drive “efficiency” in public education. One of the biggest reasons is Read more
The Center on Great Teachers and Leaders has released a new Ask the Team Brief, Teachers Supporting Teachers: State Policies for Non-Classroom-Based Instructors. Across the United States, non-classroom-based positions have been added in districts and schools to provide instructional support to teachers. They go by various names–coach, mentor, teacher leader–but Read more
Twelve states and the District of Columbia have submitted plans for implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act. These states include Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Tennessee, and Vermont. The U.S. Department of Education has already informed two of Read more
Stanley Pogrow has produced a paper concluding that most education research is of little value to people in schools. Research validating programs to develop the reading skills of students born into poverty, for example, validates programs that are not effective in practice, he says. Pogrow’s paper analyzes in easy-to-understand language Read more
The Behavioral Science and Policy Association recently published Reimagining Accountability in K–12 Education. This paper reviews the extensive behavioral science literature that shows outcome-based accountability, commonly used in education, is only one of multiple forms of accountability that should be considered for new accountability structures. Author Brian Gill recently commented Read more
The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and Education Strategy Group (ESG) have released Destination Known, a report which includes recommendations to support states as they develop accountability systems that value college and career readiness and better support all students in achieving success after high school. The Every Read more
In Education Week’s Top Performer’s blog, Marc Tuker recently reflected on the gap between typical American practice and global best practice when it comes to college and career readiness. Below are excerpts from the post: In top-performing education systems, qualifications systems are designed so that at the end of each Read more