Effective instructional coaching won't happen across a district without a well-specified coaching program and a reliable way to guide coaches. Fortunately, there are innovations from research and development efforts that can help districts put into practice the best ideas about instructional coaching. Andrew Wayne and Jane Coggshall describe how…

When proposing performance pay for teachers, reformers first must answer three questions: What is the definition of teacher performance? What is the definition of student performance? and What are the goals of schooling? Reformers also need to examine the assumptions that guide their proposals and prepare to deal with the implementation issues…

Lists 10 conditions essential to a school's readiness to explore alternative assessment methods, including desire for better assessment information, insufficiency of current assessment method, staff and parent openness to innovation, conceptual clarity, assessment "literacy," clarity about desired student outcomes, unsuitability of present…

Summarizes the status of assessment reform, based on visits to 14 schools. Documents key characteristics of various performance assessments (portfolios, on-demand tasks, projects, exhibitions, and teachers' structured observations); determines which factors influence their development, implementation, and effectiveness; and analyzes interactions…