As a growing network of advocates recognizes the immense value of incorporating educators in the policymaking process, the landscape of opportunities for educators to share their perspectives is expanding and diversifying. In a new Policy Innovators in Education (PIE) Network report, advocates working across 29 states provided details on the Read more
Mounting evidence suggests that social and emotional (SEL) skills are critical to students’ success in and out of the classroom. For schools, districts and states looking to help children build these competencies, a new RAND report offers guidance on how educators can use funding streams in the Every Student Succeeds Read more
The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has released its biannual 2017 State Teacher Policy Yearbook (Yearbook), which finds that the rapid progress made by states over the last decade to modernize their teacher policies has largely slowed. Since the last edition of the Yearbook in 2015, few states have Read more
Achieve has released a new report analyzing the English language arts (ELA)/literacy and mathematics standards of the 24 states that have reviewed and revised these standards after initially adopting the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The report, Strong Standards: A Review of Changes to State Standards Since the Common Core, Read more
A functional consensus is emerging among the nation’s boldest education leaders, producing not identical policies, but a set of vital principles that drive approaches shaped to the needs of each of their communities. It’s a set of principles born of extensive work, with the needs of students at the center. Read more
The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) has released Transforming Educator Preparation: Lessons Learned from Leading States, a playbook offering specific steps states can take to improve educator preparation. In 2012, CCSSO released Our Responsibility, Our Promise, boldly challenging state education leaders to raise expectations and strengthen policies to Read more
An iNACOL Issue Brief by Dale Frost and Maria Worthen provides an overview of competency-based education and offers state policy recommendations and resources for policymakers who are ready to enable and support competency-based education. Competency-based education is a next generation learning model that focuses on all students achieving mastery, preparing Read more
NewSchools Venture Fund has released “Unrealized Impact,” a groundbreaking study on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the education sector. This study is based on input from more than 200 education organizations and nearly 5,000 individuals, and was authored by Xiomara Padamsee, CEO of Promise54, and Becky Crowe, Senior Adviser, Read more
The Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking has issued its final report – The Promise of Evidence-Based Policymaking – which includes nearly two dozen bipartisan recommendations for how the federal government can use data and evidence to improve outcomes for all. Commission Chair Katharine Abraham, Commission Co-Chair Ron Haskins and the other Commissioners Read more
The Education Commission of the States recently released Beyond the Core: Advancing Student Success through the Arts. This Education Trends report explores research on how the arts bolster the development of deeper learning skills, provides examples of programs that successfully increased access to the arts in education in public schools, Read more
Social emotional learning (SEL) holds great potential for improving learning and college and career-ready outcomes for all students. But there is much work to do to ensure that high-quality, integrated SEL is present in a meaningful and asset-based manner in all schools. How should funders and other SEL supporters invest their Read more
State education governance structures create a framework for the interplay of authority and accountability, dictating how directives are issued and how authority is balanced with the responsibility to ensure that directives are appropriately carried out and desired results are achieved. This report explores the 50 states and takes a deep Read more
Social and emotional learning (SEL) programs, which previously have been shown to immediately improve mental health, social skills, and academic achievement, continue to benefit students for months and even years to come, according to new research (Promoting Positive Youth Development Through School-Based Social and Emotional Learning Interventions: A Meta-Analysis of Read more
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
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