Personalized, competency-based learning efforts often take place in a single classroom or school, but not systematically across districts, let alone states. To address this dynamic and increase the scale of personalized, competency-based learning, KnowledgeWorks, an independent nonprofit organization that partners with education stakeholders to…

A leadership academy is a formal professional learning opportunity for current school leaders, focused on augmenting knowledge and skills, increasing specialization, and refreshing leadership practices. States interested in supporting leadership academies through federal or other funding sources can look to current models of leadership academies…

All tax credit scholarship (TCS) programs are state programs. States develop program policies and requirements, including establishing the roles and responsibilities of scholarship granting organizations (SGOs) and participating private schools. The President's fiscal year 2020 budget request included a proposal for federal tax credits for…

This document compiles information from multiple sources to offer readers a snapshot of Preschool Development and Expansion Grant (PDG) states' progress towards implementing a full comprehensive assessment system, as well as the tools they are using for each of the components.

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for K-12 English language arts/literacy and mathematics, released in 2010, have been adopted by 49 states and territories; the District of Columbia; and the U.S. Department of Defense schools, which serve the children of U.S. service members around the world. The widespread adoption of the CCSS is a major…

The state's Race to the Top (RTT) application requires changes to the state's evaluation/accountability system. It requires a teacher effectiveness measure, district effectiveness measure, leader effectiveness measure. Regarding the teacher effectiveness measure, RTT requires linking the data of individual students to individual teachers as part…

Various approaches to the professional development school (PDS)--each designed for its respective audience, mission, and purpose for engagement--have shaped the professional development school effort during the past 25 years. Central to these approaches is improving teacher quality in the service of student learning. This provides direction for…

Response to intervention (RTI) can be both a system for providing early interventions to struggling students and a special education diagnostic tool for evaluating and identifying students with specific learning disabilities. Contributing to the very limited literature on state-level approaches, this report describes how nine states define and…

A study examined implementation of the Arizona Vocational Technological Education Curriculum Model, which outlines a comprehensive instructional framework to prepare students for higher education, on-the-job training, and the world of work. A questionnaire customized for each of Arizona's 172 schools with 1 or more state-approved…

Outcomes of 1990-91 Arizona At-Risk Pilot Project for grades K-3 and 7-12 are described in this third in a series of annual evaluation reports. The evaluation focuses on effective strategies in the context of the total school environment, examining both implementation processes and outcomes. Following an introduction, chapter 2 describes the…

This report provides an update on Arizona's 10 regional partnerships under a school-to-work (STW) implementation grant from the U.S. Departments of Labor and Education. The report profiles the status of each of the 10 regional STW partnerships as of the midpoint of the state's third year (1997-98) of STW implementation. Profiles are provided in…

In order to assess the effectiveness of the Career Education Incentive Act (CEIA) of 1977, data were collected from a review of eight states' fiscal 1980 and 1981 annual reports as well as from a study conducted by the American Institutes for Research. According to these data, CEIA monies have indeed been allotted and matched as prescribed by the…

The 1992-93 school year marked the first year of implementation of the statewide mandate of the Arizona Student Assessment Program (ASAP), which revised previous legislation. Iowa Test of Basic Skills testing requirements were restricted to grades 2 and 7, and districts were allowed greater flexibility in their own testing, which had previously…

This workbook is intended as a guide to be used at the 1990 Arizona Counselors' Academy to provide Arizona school counselors with the resources and procedures for establishing a Competency-Based Guidance program. It provides instructional materials to assist with the following 12 elements of program development: (1) a mission statement; (2) a…

This program development handbook is part of a statewide effort to develop and implement an Arizona Competency Based Guidance Program model for Arizona school districts. Part 1, the Overview, includes an introduction to competency-based guidance, followed by the mission statement of the Arizona Department of Education regarding guidance and the…