Better Tests, Fewer Barriers: Advances in Accessibility through PARCC and Smarter Balanced
As the title implies, this Center for American Progress publication provides an overview of the general movement toward increased accessibility for students with disabilities (SWDs) and English Language Learners (ELLs). The authors present statistics showing a substantial increase in the numbers of...
Guide to Evaluating Assessments Using the CCSSO Criteria for High Quality Assessments: Focus on Test Content
Because the results from state assessments are often used for high stakes purposes, it is important that the assessments themselves are of high quality. In this publication, the authors propose a methodology for evaluating state assessments for summative purposes. They describe their methodology...
Assessment in Elementary and Secondary Education: A Primer
The following is a summary of this publication from the Congressional Research Service.
What Are Teachers' and School Leaders' Major Concerns About New K–12 State Tests?
The implementation of new consortia-based tests (Smarter Balanced and PARCC) has created concern among both educators and school leaders about increased test difficulty, score accuracy, technology, and educator readiness to prepare students for the new assessments. In this brief report, the authors...
BetterLesson
BetterLesson is an online site dedicated to providing educators with access to high-quality tools and resources that support implementation and alignment to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The site features lessons and resources from over 130 selected Master Teachers from across the country...
EQuIP Rubric for Lessons & Units: Science
The Educators Evaluating the Quality of Instructional Products (EQuIP) Rubric for science supports educators conducting in-depth evaluations of the quality of lessons and units that appear in published materials or are educator-created. The EQuIP Rubric for science extends the work of previous...
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.
Applying Universal Design to the Common Core
The topic for this segment of Bam! Radio (an all-education radio network that offers programming from top education organizations and leaders) is about Universal Design. Guest Dr. Katie Novak (Title I Director, ELL Director, and Reading coordinator in Chelmsford Public Schools) discusses teacher...