The purpose of this report is to investigate the feasibility of constructing a school-level measure of students' academic growth from kindergarten to grade 3, and to assess the validity and precision of that measure. The study measured schoolwide student growth for reading and math using student growth percentiles based on Maryland's 2014/15…

This study examines the accuracy of performance ratings from the Framework for Leadership (FFL), Pennsylvania's tool for evaluating the leadership practices of principals and assistant principals. The study analyzed four key properties of the FFL: score variation, internal consistency, year-to-year stability, and concurrent validity. Score…

This "Stated Briefly" report is a companion piece that summarizes the results of another report of the same name. This study examines the accuracy of performance ratings from the Framework for Leadership (FFL), Pennsylvania's tool for evaluating the leadership practices of principals and assistant principals. The study analyzed four key…

This webinar described the findings of our literature review on alternative measures of student growth that are used in teacher evaluation. The review focused on two types of alternative growth measures: statistical growth/value-added models and teacher-developed student learning objectives. This Q&A addressed the questions participants had…

This study examines the accuracy of performance ratings from the Framework for Leadership (FFL), Pennsylvania's tool for evaluating the leadership practices of principals and assistant principals. The study analyzed three key properties of the FFL: internal consistency, score variation, and concurrent validity. To measure the internal consistency…

A new study analyzed data from the 2012/13 pilot of the Framework for Leadership (FFL), Pennsylvania's tool for evaluating the leadership practices of principals and assistant principals. Based on the FFL scores of 336 principals and 69 assistant principals evaluated by their supervisors in the 2012/13 school year, this interim report found that…

COVID-19 has profoundly affected educational institutions across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as it has in the rest of the country and around the world. Since March 2020, school buildings statewide have been closed. Although many schools have worked hard to provide instruction remotely, it is likely that schoolchildren all over the state are…

States and districts are beginning to use student achievement growth--as measured by state assessments (often using statistical techniques known as value-added models or student growth models)--as part of their teacher evaluation systems. But this approach has limited application in most states, because their assessments are typically administered…

States and districts are beginning to use student achievement growth--as measured by state assessments (often using statistical techniques known as value-added models or student growth models)--as part of their teacher evaluation systems. But this approach has limited application in most states, because their assessments are typically administered…

In this webinar, Dr. Sarah Catherine K. Moore, Program Director at the Center for Applied Linguistics, outlined factors for content area teachers to consider as they design and deliver lessons for mainstream classrooms that include English learner (EL) students. This Q&A addressed the questions participants had for Dr. Moore following the…

School districts and states across the Regional Educational Laboratory Mid-Atlantic Region and the country as a whole have been modifying their teacher evaluation systems to identify more effective and less effective teachers and provide better feedback to improve instructional practice. The new systems typically include components related to…

In this webinar, Dr. Joyce Epstein, Director of the Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships and the National Network of Partnership Schools, discussed what the research says about effective family engagement. The webinar and PowerPoint presentation are also available. A brief list of resources is included.

For more than a decade practitioners have promoted professional learning communities (PLCs) as an effective structure for providing teachers with professional development (Chappuis, Chappuis, & Stiggins, 2009; DuFour, Eaker, & DuFour, 2005). These collaborative networks are believed to be effective because they expose teachers to new ideas…

Professional learning communities (PLCs)--teams of educators who get together regularly to exchange ideas--have sprung up to meet school districts' growing interest in promoting professional development that engages teachers and administrators. PLCs meet to develop lesson plans, monitor student progress, assess instructional effectiveness, and…

Faced with rising demand for information about early childhood programs, states need to find tools and strategies to monitor the progress of and to identify high-quality early childhood programs. In response, REL Mid-Atlantic convened a regional workgroup for state personnel who work with the systems containing early childhood data. The workgroup…