What would it look like to engage in more humanizing assessment practices, practices that support the positive development of students' identity, agency, and belonging? In a Southern California school district, a group of teachers have been working toward doing exactly that. One of the first things the teachers did was to recognize that the…

With a motivation to immerse students in engineering design, graphics communication, and computer aided design (CAD) skills early-on in the biomedical engineering curriculum, we launched a new 2-unit laboratory course on "Graphics Design in BME" in the Spring 2020 quarter for UC Davis sophomores. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the course…

The Smarter Balanced Assessment System consists of three components: (1) interim assessments designed to support teaching and learning throughout the year; (2) a suite of tools and resources in Tools for Teachers that support classroom-based formative assessment practices; and (3) end-of-year summative assessments designed for accountability…

The aim of this report is to highlight efforts to develop a digital badging and e-portfolio environment that will illuminate and validate curricular, co-curricular, and extracurricular learning in cybersecurity. This effort includes Cal Poly Pomona and Coastline College, which are both designated as Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense…

International students, particularly international English as a Second Language (ESL) students who come to the United States with relatively lower levels of English oral language proficiency, are often reluctant to participate in academic discussions. In a graduate-level TESOL program with a majority of international ESL students, a video…

Public interest in social-emotional learning is growing -- and the opportunities under the Every Student Succeeds Act have led many states and districts to consider the role of these skills in schools. As state and local leaders consider and commit to social-emotional learning programming in schools, they also have a responsibility to be…

In the age of fake news, teachers in every subject area should redouble their efforts to help students distinguish between credible and deceptive sources of information. The author calls attention to a few key resources, including the CRAAP guidelines developed at California State University, Chico, and promoted by the American Library Association.

In addition to excelling in subjects such as science, math, arts, and social studies, students must also develop skills like resiliency, adaptability, and collaboration in order to truly succeed in the world. But how do schools effectively measure those skills when they so often rely on standardized assessments? This article provides a thorough…

Measures of student disadvantage--or risk--are critical components of equity-focused education policies. However, the risk measures used in contemporary policies have significant limitations, and despite continued advances in data infrastructure and analytic capacity, there has been little innovation in these measures for decades. We develop a new…

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…

Relying on teachers' assessments for the information currently provided by standardized test scores would save instructional time, better capture the true abilities of diverse students, and reduce the problem of teaching to the test. A California high school is implementing standards-based reporting, ensuring that teacher-issued grades function as…

The horse has left the barn. Distance education is here to stay and the number of degree programs offered online is growing rapidly. California State University Channel Islands (CI) admitted its first students in 2002, and the undergraduate and graduate degrees in business were among its first program offerings. From its inception, the…

Successful colleges require effective leadership and governance. Effective governing boards are comprised of trustees who are committed to excellence in performing their duties. How do governing boards assure they are effective? One way is through ongoing board and trustee education and development, to provide the skills necessary to govern well.…

The Center on Standards, Alignment, Instruction, and Learning (C-SAIL), funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, examines how college- and career-readiness (CCR) standards are implemented, if they improve student learning, and what instructional tools measure and support their implementation. This brief presents findings from C-SAIL's…

Management faculties often use cases, simulations, and research projects to achieve learning objectives in the Principles of Management class. This class typically aims to introduce students to the topics of "planning, organizing, coordinating, staffing, directing, budgeting, controlling, and evaluating functions of management; leadership…