As part of a standards revision project for the state of Nebraska, the Region 11 Comprehensive Center in partnership with the American Institutes of Research, conducted a scan of publicly available state information and existing research on revision processes. From that, we've created this guide sharing 10 key elements states should consider when…

The Shelby County iZone is a district-led effort to dramatically improve, or "turn around," 23 of the lowest performing schools in Tennessee in the 15th largest district in the country. Despite circumstances that have derailed many past reforms, iZone schools have made statistically significant and educationally meaningful gains in…

The National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools (NSBECS) were published in 2012 to serve as both a guide and assessment tool for PK-12 Catholic school effectiveness and sustainability. The NSBECS rest on the conviction that adhering to these standards and benchmarks with fidelity will result in highly…

The primary purpose of this Guide is to provide a blueprint for the development, revision, and implementation of state social studies standards. The process described herein offers opportunities for a range of stakeholder groups to engage in discussions around promising approaches and strategies that strategically advance implementation goals. It…

We consider issues surrounding the introduction of the federal educational standards in preschool education (FGOS DO) by analyzing data from a survey of directors and teachers at public and private kindergartens. The results show that teachers are well informed about the content of the new standards. They actively participate in professional…

This interactive tool, initiated by the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), is designed to guide principals in engaging with state and district leaders as they prepare to submit Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) consolidated plans and work over the coming years to implement the new law. This tool offers principals an…

Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), federal education mandates will be decreasing, which means states will have more flexibility and authority than they've had in decades. State education agency (SEA) leaders are confronting great change and great opportunity as many agencies move away from a focus on compliance with federal regulations,…

In their article, "The Common Core is a Change for the Better," Gardner and Powell (2013) make an argument in support of implementing the Common Core to improve teaching and student learning. They opine the Common Core will enable students to become more college and career ready and state the Common Core standards will provide…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) provides federal funds to improve elementary and secondary education in the nation's schools. ESSA requires states and Local Educational Agencies (i.e., school districts and charter schools) to take a variety of actions to ensure that all children, regardless of race, socioeconomic status, gender, disability…

As researchers, decision-makers, and practitioners focus on continuous improvement in education, local-level change is gaining importance. Yet, many local school improvement efforts fail to be fully implemented. Even those that are fully implemented often fail to sustain improvements because the schools are embedded in systems that face multiple…

Private higher education is growing, especially in developing and transitioning countries. Rapid growth frequently comes with concerns about quality. This article explores challenges and opportunities for higher education quality among private universities in Bangladesh. By presenting a vertical case study that explores interactions among actors…

State- and local-level mandates are currently being implemented to ensure strict compliance to the new national Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts (CCSS for ELA) and related assessments. These standards provide many potential opportunities to improve literacy education nationally and locally. However, the CCSS for ELA will…

This report, based on surveys completed by all 50 State Education Agencies (SEAs) and the District of Columbia (DC) and nationally representative samples of districts and schools during spring 2011 and 2012, examines implementation of the key education reform strategies promoted by the Recovery Act in 2011-12, the extent to which implementation…

This paper provides a critical perspective on the attempts to promote the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in teaching and learning in England. It describes the rationale given for the introduction of ICT in terms of its potential to impact on educational standards to contribute to developing a curriculum which has more…

In response to the need to develop leaders to guide the implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), the Carnegie Corporation of New York provided funding to WestEd to develop a framework that defines the leadership knowledge and actions needed to effectively implement the NGSS. The development of the framework entailed…