There is a growing body of research that suggests the first year of high school is a critical transition point for students. It also finds course-taking and successful completion of those courses in 9th grade to be valuable predictors of students' success in high school. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) provides states an opportunity to…

The last year has found critics and advocates of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) duking it out in the political arena. The Thomas B. Fordham Institute, an ardent supporter of high standards for some seventeen years, has recently lurched out of the safe haven of think tankery and into the boxing ring. Yet wherever one stands on the merits of…

The Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) program, authorized by Congress in 2011, is designed to improve the quality of early learning and development programs for children from birth through age 5. This discretionary grant program is administered jointly by the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Health and Human Services…

The human brain develops rapidly in the first five years of life. High-quality early learning experiences can have a profound and lasting positive effect on young children during these years, setting the stage for success in kindergarten and beyond. This is especially true for young children with high needs who are from low-income families; who…

When the author and his colleagues last left Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and Texas' Plano Independent School District in April 2008, both school districts were immersed in the long and labored advance toward becoming a fully matured data-driven operation, one that uses sophisticated technologies to gather data, sort and interpret it, and…

An increasing number of jobs in today's workforce require postsecondary education, yet large numbers of workers lack the essential skills and credentials to fill these jobs. The result is that many workers remain underemployed, reaching a ceiling early in their working careers. In 2007, the Joyce Foundation launched the Shifting Gears initiative…

This article describes the design and implementation of external support to low-performing schools using data from Chicago and California. Using the literature on external support, instructional capacity, and policy strength, the study gathered data from interviews, observations, document review, and surveys. The findings suggest that the model of…

This report provides initial results of Illinois' Shifting Gears Initiative that operated between July 1, 2007 and June 30, 2009. This mixed method (qualitative and quantitative) evaluation sought to accomplish three goals: (1) to assess program and student outcomes for two models (adult education and developmental education) for two target groups…

This exploration into competency-based innovation at the school, district, and state levels suggests that competency-based pathways are a re-engineering of this nation's education system around learning--a re-engineering designed for success in which failure is no longer viable. This discussion draws on interviews and site visits with innovators…

Implementation of the Illinois Plan for Industrial Technology Education was assessed through interviews with 117 teachers. The assessment model (based on Stufflebeam's Context, Input, Process, Product) blended qualitative and quantitative information. Six key dimensions of change were identified, and the Transition Assessment Inventory proved…

At first glance, academic assessment is simply another request for more paper. But it goes well beyond the design of a plan or blueprint. Instead, assessment involves the much more difficult task of creating a new culture. Borrowing from both the experience of the Department of Political Science at Northeastern Illinois University and from the…

The goal of this paper, and the symposium it represents, is to provide an examination of the perspectives of district personnel from four diverse states. The papers present the current status of legislated student assessment programs in California, Colorado, Connecticut, and Illinois. Similarities and differences in implementation methodology are…

The Illinois Quality School Index (IQSI) is a school survey designed to assist local school personnel in planning for more effective schools. The IQSI provides a structure to determine the existing quality and the expected quality of the school as viewed by administration, staff, parents, and community. This manual is a detailed guide for using…

Since the implementation of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in 2002, the impact upon America's schools has been signicant in many areas. In a positive sense, NCLB has caused schools and school districts to examine the performance and academic achievement of subgroups, often for the first time. This examination has certainly highlighted…

The reform legislation in the State of Illinois requires each district to articulate learner outcomes in six areas of education. Separate provisions of the law require increased assessment and reporting by the states and local districts. Deficiencies in the reform program, and the State Board of Education's implementation of the program, are…