Achieve: Do not use SAT or ACT as state summative assessment

Posted on June 12, 2018June 10, 2018 by coreeducation

Achieve released a new brief warning against the use of ACT or SAT exams as the summative high school assessment for English language arts (ELA) and mathematics. Achieve highlighted three reviews of these tests, looking at their alignment to states’ college- and career-ready academic standards and how using the tests for accountability would impact students, Read more about Achieve: Do not use SAT or ACT as state summative assessment[…]

50-State Comparison: State Summative Assessments

Posted on June 7, 2018June 4, 2018 by coreeducation

The Education Commission of the States’ Comparison on State Summative Assessments was just updated and now includes information on the assessments that each state is using to meet federal requirements in 2017-18. As a condition of receiving federal funds, the Every Student Succeeds Act requires state education agencies to implement statewide assessments in mathematics and Read more about 50-State Comparison: State Summative Assessments[…]

Ten Principles of Building High-Quality Systems of Assessment

Posted on March 7, 2018March 1, 2018 by coreeducation

How do state and district leaders cut through the clutter to make decisions on assessments for student success? Finally, there is unprecedented support on how to answer this question with the release of Ten Principles for Building a High-Quality System of Assessments, a collaborative effort led by Jobs for the Future (JFF), a national nonprofit Read more about Ten Principles of Building High-Quality Systems of Assessment[…]

What’s Working in America’s Public Schools

Posted on February 28, 2018February 23, 2018 by coreeducation

Earlier this month, John White, Louisiana state superintendent of education and board chair of Chiefs for Change, wrote a piece for the Washington Post that explored the progress made in America’s public schools over the past decade. Excerpts appear below: On the extremes of the right and the left, there is a growing desire to Read more about What’s Working in America’s Public Schools[…]

February Issue Brief: Performance Assessment

Posted on February 27, 2018February 23, 2018 by coreeducation

Educators seeking to measure student attainment of 21st century skills and deeper learning are increasingly looking to performance assessment as a way to assess student performance meaningfully. ESSA’s innovative testing pilot and new test-optional college admissions policies are removing roadblocks that once stood in the way of widescale adoption of performance assessment. In this month’s Read more about February Issue Brief: Performance Assessment[…]

The Promise of Performance Assessments

Posted on February 5, 2018February 1, 2018 by coreeducation

As states, districts, and schools are expanding instruction to include the competencies associated with college, career, and civic readiness, they are also developing ways to measure mastery of these deeper learning and higher-order thinking skills. These measures include performance assessments, such as portfolios, capstone projects, and senior defenses, alongside classroom performance. Meanwhile, more than 900 Read more about The Promise of Performance Assessments[…]

10 Evidence-Based Policies and Practices for Assessment

Posted on December 20, 2017December 15, 2017 by coreeducation

The Meadows Center at the University of Texas at Austin has released a piece outlining 10 evidence-based policies and practices for high-quality assessment in schools, along with the research supporting them. These policies/practices include the following: School leadership ensures that teachers have a shared understanding of the curriculum and standards across the grades. Schools use Read more about 10 Evidence-Based Policies and Practices for Assessment[…]

School Districts where Students Learn Most

Posted on December 19, 2017December 15, 2017 by coreeducation

New data from researchers at Stanford, based on some 300 million elementary-school test scores across more than 11,000 school districts, reveals the school districts where children are showing the most growth. The results do not follow conventional wisdom. Districts with high growth are scattered across the country, in contrast with sharp geographic divisions on proficiency Read more about School Districts where Students Learn Most[…]

New Online Tracker Shows How States Will Hold Schools Accountable Under ESSA

Posted on November 17, 2017November 11, 2017 by coreeducation

Achieve has released an online tracking tool that summarizes components of states’ accountability plans as submitted to the U.S. Department of Education under the requirements of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The tool also allows for users to compare states’ accountability metrics. As part of ESSA, every state was required to create and submit Read more about New Online Tracker Shows How States Will Hold Schools Accountable Under ESSA[…]

Performance Assessment: Fostering the Learning of Teachers and Students (update)

Posted on November 15, 2017November 15, 2017 by coreeducation

Against a backdrop of the opportunities provided by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and the challenges for education posed by the new federal administration, the Annenberg Institute for School Report has released an issue of Voices in Urban Education (VUE) and an online supplement that proposes performance assessment as a personalized and rigorous alternative Read more about Performance Assessment: Fostering the Learning of Teachers and Students (update)[…]

90% of Parents Think Their Kids Are on Track in Math & Reading

Posted on August 24, 2017August 16, 2017 by coreeducation

There is a communication gap that creates a significant disconnect in how parents think their children are doing in school versus reality. In its second national survey, Learning Heroes found that 9 in 10 parents think their children are performing at or above grade level in math and reading — but results from the National Read more about 90% of Parents Think Their Kids Are on Track in Math & Reading[…]

Performance Assessment: Fostering the Learning of Teachers and Students

Posted on August 14, 2017July 29, 2017 by coreeducation

The Annenberg Institute’s new issue of VUE, Performance Assessment: Fostering the Learning of Teachers and Students proposes an alternative to standardized testing, based on a performance assessment approach, which is personalized and rigorous, and improves teaching and learning – thereby benefiting both students and teachers. Against a backdrop of the opportunities provided by the Every Read more about Performance Assessment: Fostering the Learning of Teachers and Students[…]

Supporting High-Quality State Assessments

Posted on July 17, 2017July 14, 2017 by coreeducation

Tests are one important tool state and education leaders, teachers and parents rely on to help schools ensure students are on track for learning what they need for success. Tests signal the knowledge and skills that are deemed most important, show how schools and students are progressing, and help identify where to direct resources so Read more about Supporting High-Quality State Assessments[…]

How State Assessments Can Foster 21st Century Learning

Posted on May 5, 2017April 29, 2017 by coreeducation

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) opens up new possibilities for more meaningful approaches to assessing student learning and teacher and school success. The law broadens the concept of student learning, requiring that assessments measure “higher order thinking skills and understanding,” and explicitly allowing the use of multiple assessments – including “portfolios, projects, or extended-performance Read more about How State Assessments Can Foster 21st Century Learning[…]

Providing All Students with a Well-Rounded Education through ESSA

Posted on March 7, 2017March 4, 2017 by coreeducation

The National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) and the Center on Great Teachers and Leaders (GTL Center) have released a new interactive tool for principals: Principals Action Plan for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Providing All Students with a Well-Rounded and Complete Education. Principals’ crucial voices are needed in ESSA planning. To support Read more about Providing All Students with a Well-Rounded Education through ESSA[…]

February Issue Brief: College Readiness

Posted on March 1, 2017February 22, 2017 by coreeducation

This year the United States hit a record high graduation rate of 83 percent, and 66 percent of graduating students enrolled in college. But we are discovering that high school graduation does not necessarily equate to readiness for college coursework. NAEP data show that only 37 percent of high school seniors are academically prepared for Read more about February Issue Brief: College Readiness[…]