Last week the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) launched a new site containing cutting-edge postsecondary education research for a policy-focused audience. PolicyDirect is a one-stop, online resource that delivers more than 300 easy-to-use summaries of academic research that highlights critical findings on important higher education issues such as college Read more
Achieve has released new resources directed toward the business community, to inform and rally more advocates for education reform. The Business Resources for a College- and Career-Ready America include modular resources for business leaders to use as they engage their internal and external networks of colleagues, peers, employees, and employers Read more
New state-level data on charter schools and teacher certification are now available on the State Education Reforms website. The State Education Reforms website, which draws primarily on data collected by organizations other than NCES, compiles and disseminates data on state-level education reform efforts in five areas: (1) Accountability (2) Assessment Read more
Increased awareness of how much effective teaching matters has led to a national momentum to find new ways to evaluate teaching. Many states and school districts are redesigning how teacher effectiveness is assessed, rewarded, and supported, efforts spurred or reinforced by Federal initiatives such as the Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF-4). Read more
The College Board recently released four new publications, addressing issues from the presidential election to expanding opportunities for historically underserved groups in public institutions of higher education. Each of the publications underscores the country’s current economic issues and the raging debate over education reform. The Common Core aims to prepare Read more
As the discussion of the Common Core and associated assessment systems heats up, I wanted to share these valuable resources. They were compiled by Achieve, the US Education Delivery Institute, and Education First, and are hyperlinked in the press release below: As states move forward with their implementation of the Read more
Date: Thursday, July 12, 2012 Time: 2:00-3:00pm EST The new emphasis on teacher effectiveness is changing the K-12 education landscape. What does the latest research suggest about the impact of teacher effectiveness on student achievement? What are the best strategies for enhancing teacher effectiveness? And how do district leaders assess Read more
Resource Watch: ‘Pinteresting’ Idea for Teachers – Teaching Now – Education Week Teacher. Grockit, the online test prep company, has recently launched a new social learning site similar to Pinterest, but designed specifically for educators and students, according to The Journal, an education-technology news magazine. On Learnist, users can “pin” Read more
The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing professional learning opportunities for teachers, policymakers, and other education leaders, has revamped its website to be more user-friendly. The site is more interactive and has more functionality for users, who can now: Perform a dynamic search of all Read more
The two multistate organizations tasked with developing math and ELA assessment systems to support the Common Core, Smarter Balanced and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), have been hard at work over the past several months. To help keep interested parties updated on their activities, Read more
Education Week is again offering new “Spotlights on Education” for free. Spotlights are collections of recent articles grouped by theme to give readers an in-depth look at education issues. The currently offered Spotlights are: Implementing Online Learning Blended Learning Sports Variety of Approaches Spotlight Turns Toward Virtual Ed Accountability School Read more
What makes for an effective principal, and how can effectiveness be measured? Thirty states have recently passed legislation to improve principal evaluation systems and are now grappling with these questions. New legislation recognizes that leadership is the second most influential factor in student achievement, after classroom teaching, but there is Read more
Education Week is hosting several webinars in the coming weeks that address the Common Core and the preparations of people who work with children in after-school or recreational programs. See full descriptions and registration information below. From Paper to Practice: Implementing the Common Core State Standards in English/Language Arts May Read more
TNTP has released its newest resource—the Teacher Talent Toolbox. The Toolbox “is a repository of successful strategies and practical resources that schools, districts, and networks can draw on to create effective human capital policies, with the aim of creating sustained, scalable models for effective instruction.” It is essentially an open-source Read more
The US Department of Education is continuing its work to determine how online communities of practice (COPs) may help teachers improve their practice. For the past year, the Department’s Offices of Innovation and Improvement (OII) and Educational Technology (OET) have been researching several critical issues that may influence the effectiveness Read more
Mass Insight Education (MIE) has launched a multi-month Turnaround Forum, consisting of weekly blog posts, biweekly email blasts, and monthly issue briefs on topics of importance in the turnaround field. MIE invites all stakeholders interested in school turnarounds to subscribe to the new and improved blog, “In the Zone,” for Read more