High-quality assessments are crucial to many aspects of the educational process. They can help policymakers monitor long-term educational trends, assist state educational agencies (SEAs) and local educational agencies (LEAs) in allocating resources and professional development opportunities, provide insights to teachers about how well students…

Calls for increased monitoring and evaluation of education policies and practices have not, so far, included widespread and consistent assessments of the inclusiveness of education settings. Measuring inclusion in education has proven to be a challenging exercise, due not only to the complexity and different uses of the concept, but also to its…

The National Academy of Education (NAEd) undertook this consensus report on the evaluation and improvement of teacher preparation programs (TPPs). Specifically, this consensus report aims to (1) identify and disseminate best practices for evaluating and improving TPPs to promote teacher effectiveness and student achievement; (2) provide…

Inclusivity is a crucial factor in assessment design as fair assessment must reflect the needs of a diverse student body. Assessment practices should also be culturally inclusive and supportive to all students while considering the needs of learners with disabilities and specific learning difficulties. Educational institutions worldwide are…

State summative assessments play an important role in measuring student learning and guiding educational improvement efforts, despite their limitations. But there is growing momentum in individual states and nationally to rethink these assessments with an eye toward reducing time spent on testing and increasing the tests' instructional relevance.…

In the United States, where social mobility has been considered a birthright, community colleges are essential to that promise. But America's 1,000 community colleges, which educate 9 million students, are routinely under-resourced and often fall short of their promise. Part of the responsibility lies with K-12 institutions, which do not…

Key competences are important for personal development, employment, integration into society and lifelong learning. They are transversal and form the basis for all other competences. Acquiring key competences is possible through various learning pathways, including vocational education and training (VET). However, little is known at the European…

School closure is relatively common in the United States. An analysis by the Urban Institute found that about 2% of public schools, on average, were closed each year between 2003 and 2013, and these closures were found in urban, suburban, and rural communities. A substantial number of public schools have been closed in Michigan, California, Ohio,…

Social and emotional learning (SEL) has been defined in various ways. One of the most commonly cited models, that of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), defines SEL as "the process through which students and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand…

This issue brief discusses opportunities for states under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to redesign systems of assessments to support student-centered learning. In addition, this brief introduces "balanced systems of assessments" and "assessment literacy" as two key concepts required for long-term sustainable systems…

The core practice of professional scientists is inquiry, often referred to as research. If educators are to prepare students for a role in the professional scientific and technological community, exposing them to inquiry-based learning is essential. Despite this, inquiry-based teaching and learning (IBTL) remains relatively rare, possibly due to…

Defining and measuring college quality is a contentious issue, and the debate about how to do so is far from settled. What is quality when institutions produce outputs ranging from student learning and labor-market success to research? How is student learning measured when students specialize in a major field? How are quality metrics tied to…

Students, teachers, and school leaders are seeking flexibility and supports to enable powerful, personalized learning experiences both inside and outside of the traditional classroom. In personalized learning, instruction is tailored to each student's strengths, needs, and interests--including enabling student voice and choice in what, how, when,…

As the Public School Forum enters its 31st year, they continue the tradition of forecasting the ten issues most likely to impact public schools across the state in "Top Ten Education Issues for 2017." As they do each year, they have included in the list issues they believe will be the top education issues for the year, as well as issues…

Head Start is a valuable federal program that improves the lives of our nation's most vulnerable children and their families. Research shows that Head Start programs improve children's learning at school entry and have a positive impact on long-term life outcomes. Research also suggests that Head Start could have a stronger impact on children's…