Over the past 15 years, a national consensus has slowly coalesced around one of the most enduring and contentious debates in education circles: how to hold schools and districts accountable for improving outcomes. The Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA, is in many ways the culmination of the movement towards Read more
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was passed by Congress in December, and the law affords states much more flexibility to develop innovative educational systems and accountability processes. Now is an incredible opportunity for the transformation of American education, state by state. In this month’s issue brief, Core Education explores Read more
As states work to finalize plans for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) by the 2017-18 school year, Education First asks, what is your state’s North Star and how can you use ESSA to help you chart a course to reach it? When a state has an education North Star Read more
For more than a decade, Achieve has issued an annual 50-state report on each state’s adoption of college- and career-ready (CCR) policies as reflected in state standards, graduation requirements, assessments, and accountability systems. Having the right policies is necessary to ensure that students graduate academically prepared for college and careers, Read more
An Education Week survey of states’ testing plans in English/language arts and math—the two subjects covered by the Common Core—found that states have continued in 2015-16 to drift away from the tests designed by the assessment corsortia, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, and Read more
In a recent New York Times opinion piece, Angela Duckworth, founder and scientific director of the Character Lab and the author of the forthcoming book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, recommends against using the results of character surveys for school accountability. A short excerpt from Mrs. Duckworth follows: Read more
New Teacher Center (NTC) has released a national report showing that most states provide insufficient mentoring and support for teachers and principals as they start their careers. The report—Support From The Start: A 50-State Review of Policies on New Educator Induction and Mentoring—shows only limited progress in most states since Read more
A recent report released by New America called Beyond Ratings examines state teacher evaluation systems and evaluates their usefulness as tools for teacher growth. The report highlights what actions states have taken so far to ensure evaluation systems are being used to develop teachers’ practice, and what more needs to Read more
A recent report from New America: Ed-Central blog, titled Beyond Boundaries, looks at states’ role in the teacher evaluation process. New teacher evaluation systems are an increasingly common aspect of teachers’ daily lives. To ensure that all students have access to quality teaching, the vast majority of states have adopted Read more
Is there really a teacher shortage? This question is a complex one and it is not easily answered. A recent analysis of the data of the teaching landscape by the Education Policy Center at the American Institutes for Research, shows that the shortages may not be as large as previously Read more
The nation’s state superintendents are trying to send the message that, even though there are no longer any federal requirements for teacher evaluation, states aren’t abandoning their commitment to review their teachers on a regular basis. This comes as a result of the federal passage of ESSA which relaxes the Read more
University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) and New Leaders have released a toolkit, called SEP3, to help states evaluate principal preparation programs. This toolkit provides essential guidance, tools, and resources for implementing a more in-depth and rigorous principal preparation evaluation process, thereby enabling states to accurately assess quality, promote improvement, Read more
A recent article in Education Week, written by Evie Blad, examines how select California school districts, collectively known as CORE districts, are measuring school effectiveness with criteria that extends beyond academic success. As discussions about school accountability begin to focus more intently on factors beyond standardized-test scores, educators and policymakers Read more
The new Every Student Succeeds Act returns to the states much of the authority for directing school improvement that the federal government had assumed in the past 15 years. Some states are ready to roll, but plenty are searching for potential role models. Fortunately, at least two such candidates are Read more
Under the newly enacted Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), states now face the challenge of creating school accountability systems that can vastly improve upon the model required by No Child Left Behind. To help spur creative thinking about how they might do so, and also to inform the Department of Read more
A recent article by Kaylan Connally from EdCentral examines the implications for states’ evaluation systems moving forward and how ESSA may influence other state teacher quality efforts. ESSA will affect the way teacher preparation, teacher equity, teacher growth and advancement are handled by states. Teacher Preparation – Through ESSA Title Read more