School ratings are a ubiquitous feature of the U.S. educational system. Alongside state-mandated measures of school performance, non-state organizations such as GreatSchools.org and Niche have created consumer-oriented systems of school ratings that draw on publicly available information about schools. Claiming the purpose of their rating systems…

As full-time virtual learning moved from the fringe to the mainstream in mid-March 2020, onlookers expressed concerns about access for learners and accountability for the learning itself. Concerns have not applied only to full-time virtual schools, however. Alternative schools that serve students who have dropped out or transferred from…

This article first makes a case for the need to establish evaluation reporting standards, support for which is rooted in the growing demand for professionalization, in the growing meta evaluation literature, and in growing efforts to develop reporting standards for inquiry efforts. Then, a case is made for a particular set of such standards…

Across the South, many states and school districts provide basic training for evaluators. But this basic training does not assure that evaluators will be prepared to provide teachers with classroom observations that are rigorous, reliable and personally relevant. High-quality evaluator training leads to improved instructional practice, both…

In Spring 2020, National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) convened a working group of authorizers and other stakeholders to learn more about the challenges they faced, given the data gaps caused by COVID-19, and to ask what guidance was needed for the sector to adapt to these unusual circumstances. Based on their feedback and…

Drawing on their research in creating the Vibrant School Scale, Megan Tschannen-Moran and Davis Clement describe the three characteristics of vibrant schools: enlivened minds, emboldened voices, and playful learning. The authors also detail a four-step, strengths-based process called appreciative inquiry that can help school members have…

All students deserve to attend programs and institutions that meet high quality standards. But different program goals, investments of time, and eligibility criteria make it difficult to set specific standards that will apply equally well to all types of programs and institutions. This report sets out principles for developing an accountability…

Background: This paper considers a new policy and statistical framework for evaluating K-12 schools and policies that aligns with diversity, equity, and inclusion values. The new approach broadens the standard approach to accountability and evaluation by combining features of evaluation and multi-level growth models with approaches used in systems…

Funded grant projects all involve some form of evaluation, and Advanced Technological Education (ATE) grants are no exception. Program evaluation serves as a critical component not only for evaluating if a project has met its intended and desired outcomes, but the evaluation process is also a central feature of the grant application itself.…

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…

At an international level, teachers' work is increasingly circumscribed and regulated. Notions of accountability have shifted from primarily inputs to primary outcomes, and investment in strengthening teacher performance evaluation has expanded. At the same time, investment in enhancing the quality of teacher education programs is contested in…

In this article, we draw upon notions of occupational professionalism and organizational professionalism to interrogate the complex, and sometimes contradictory, teacher learning practices that characterize educational policy enactment. We apply these understandings to the Growing Success assessment and evaluation policy in Ontario, Canada, and in…

This article draws upon recent theorising of the "becoming topological" of space--specifically, how new social spaces are constituted through relations rather than physical locations--to explore how standardised data, and specifically test data, have influenced teachers' work and learning. We outline the varied ways in which teacher…

This paper reports on findings from an ongoing research project exploring Chinese EFL teachers' conceptions of assessment and their classroom assessment practices, as well as to examine the relationship between these two. The sample for the study consisted of 107 EFL teachers from 18 secondary schools who completed a Chinese version of the…

With the increased inclusion of student academic growth in school accountability decisions, the Center on Standards and Assessment Implementation (CSAI) has received multiple queries regarding how states are incorporating student growth measures into their accountability systems. CSAI recently sought to answer this question through a scan of state…