Listen to Us: Teacher Views and Voices
This survey, conducted by the Center on Education Policy (CEP), provides insight into teachers’ feelings regarding current education issues and their profession. This national survey of K-12 public school teachers was conducted in the winter of 2015-16. The survey focused on a strategic set of...
Opt Out: An Examination of Issues
During the past few years, media reports have highlighted an increase in the number of parents who are opting their children out of annual state tests, often called the opt-out movement. In this paper, researcher Randy Bennett examines issues related to the movement including: the amount of time...
Teaching Higher: Educators' Perspectives on Common Core Implementation
This study by the Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR) at Harvard University surveyed a representative sample of teachers in five states (Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, and Nevada) as they prepared their students to take the new Common Core-aligned assessments in the spring...
Knowing the Score: The Who, What, and Why of Testing
This brief provides information about K–12 testing with the goal of helping parents, educators, policymakers, and others make decisions about testing policies in their community and state. Background information is provided, as well as answers to common questions about K–12 testing, including the...
Results of President Obama’s Race to the Top
From the Publisher: "This study examines the effects of Obama’s Race to the Top [funding initiative] on education policymaking around the country. The overall findings . . . indicate that Race to the Top had a meaningful impact on the production of education policy across the United States. In its ...
The Role of Strategic Communications in the Transition to New Academic Standards and Assessments: Case Studies of Tennessee and Kentucky
This case study examines how the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the state of Tennessee managed communications in the transition to more rigorous standards. The authors present eight important lessons including: proactive communication; coordinated communication; educator engagement; simple messages;...
Next-Generation Accountability Systems: An Overview of Current State Policies and Practices
This report describes next-generation accountability concepts that states have either designed or implemented. Many concepts are derived through ESEA flexibility waivers that exempted states from many of the accountability requirements of the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act, the current iteration of...
Benchmarking State Implementation of College- and Career-Readiness Standards, Aligned Assessments and Related Reforms: Cross-State Findings
The Southern Regional Education Board conducted a multi-year study of how 14 states are implementing college- and career-ready standards. This report is part of a series for the "Benchmarking State Implementation of Common Core Standards" project.