Eight Lessons Learned From Piloting the Rapid Cycle Evaluation Coach

For the last 18 months, the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education, in partnership with the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) at the Department, has been working with Mathematica Policy Research and SRI International to build the Rapid Cycle Evaluation Coach (the RCE Coach). The RCE Read more

CASEL Guidance, Tools and Resources for SEL

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning  (CASEL) has published a vast set of online guidance and practical tools to help school districts and schools systemically implement practices that promote social and emotional learning (SEL). The SEL District Resource Center includes more than 500 resources that address priorities from Read more

Why States Should Focus More on School Climate Under ESSA

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 Read more

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

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 Read more

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

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 Read more

Free Online Course: Learning to Dream – Education and Economic Mobility

The Foundation for Excellence in Education (ExcelinEd) is excited to announce the launch of its latest EdPolicy Leaders Online course, Learning to Dream: Education and Economic Mobility. This course explores the key components of economic mobility and how access to high quality education systems and diverse educational offerings is a Read more

Facebook Helps Develop Software that puts Students in Charge of their Lesson Plans

Recently, Natasha Singer and Mike Isaac reported for The New York Times on Facebook’s new personalized learning platform. An excerpt of the article appears below: Facebook is out to upend the traditional student-teacher relationship. Facebook and Summit Public Schools, a nonprofit charter school network with headquarters in Silicon Valley, announced Read more