Leveraging ESSA: Policy Opportunities for English Learners in Illinois
The purpose of this resource is to inform English learner (EL) advocates and families to understand the opportunities within the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) that can support a comprehensive approach to teaching and learning for ELs. The analysis presented in the resource can also be used as a...
Education for Life and Work: Developing Transferable Knowledge and Skills in the 21st Century
From the publisher’s description: “Education for Life and Work: Developing Transferable Knowledge and Skills in the 21st Century describes this important set of key skills that increase deeper learning, college and career readiness, student-centered learning, and higher order thinking.
Assessment Literacy Standards: A National Imperative
The purpose of this publication is to increase assessment literacy for policymakers, district and school administrators, teachers, and students. To do so, the authors have created assessment literacy standards for each stakeholder group. Emphasis is on maximizing assessment benefits, reducing ...
Is NAEP Math Out of Step with the States?
The authors of this publication analyze the possibility that NAEP mathematics assessments may be misaligned to the shifting goals of mathematics education in the United States. Comparing NAEP mathematics standards to both Common Core and non-Common Core state mathematics standards, the authors...
Re-Balancing Assessment: Placing Formative and Performance Assessment at the Heart of Learning and Accountability
From the overview: "we call for replacing our current, unbalanced formula of summative assessments and external pressure with a new, more balanced formula for assessment and accountability centered around curriculum-embedded performance assessments or CEPAs—classroom-based instructional units that...
How Does Data Management Impact Practitioner Decision Making?: Illustrations from Three Case Studies
In this 28-page publication, the authors present a general model for data collection and analysis that had been implemented into a number of charter schools. The first step is to collect data that are complete, valid, and reliable. The second step is to develop descriptive tools to use the data,...
Answering the Questions That Count
In this brief Educational Leadership article, the authors draw from their personal experiences to illustrate the value of answering essential questions prior to data collection. They examine three components of systematic data use: data quality, data capacity, and data culture. Each component is...
No Schools Left Behind
In this eight-page article, the author describes and illustrates a specific process for using different types of data to improve student outcomes, including achievement. She defines and illustrates four types of data that schools should gather, including demographics, student learning, perception,...