This issue of "Assessment Update" presents the following articles: (1) Organizing for Learning Improvement: What It Takes (Andrea M. Pope and Keston H. Fulcher); (2) Editor's Notes: The Leadership Imperatives for Assessment Excellence -- Imperative #2, Attracting and Retaining Talent to Support Assessment Excellence (Stephen P. Hundley);…

This year's report focuses on efforts to redesign high schools. Those include incorporating student voice, implementing a rigorous and relevant curriculum, embracing career exploration, and more. The report also includes the latest statistics on the nation's overall, on-time high school graduation rate. Articles include: (1) To Build a Better High…

Four years ago, the University of Maryland (UM) Board of Regents responded to the national crisis in the college experience--the high incidence of student failure and dropout, the cost of a college degree, and the number of years it was taking to earn one--by contracting with Dr. Carol A. Twigg, president of the National Center for Academic…

Across the country, educators in schools that have not met their targets for improved student learning are considering next steps. As a first step, a school improvement plan that is grounded in data and based on a comprehensive needs assessment can provide a framework for effecting change for a school's programming, student support systems, and…