Non-certified personnel in K-12 education in Pennsylvania represent approximately one-third of all public education employees. Although there has been large-scale reform in the evaluation of certified staff, the non-certified population may not be evaluated at all. The lack of consistency in evaluating this large segment of K-12 education…

Despite much fanfare, new technologies have yet to fundamentally advance student outcomes in K-12 schools or other educational settings. We believe that the system that supports the development and dissemination of educational technology tools is falling short. The key missing ingredient is rigorous evaluation. No one knows what works and for…

The National Urban League president and CEO Marc H. Morial weighs in on what he sees as the need for continued annual assessments of students, rejecting the course of opting out that has taken hold in some places across America. Assessment data provides students with the opportunity to receive personalized supports and necessary interventions to…

Traditionally, models of instructional leadership espouse data-informed decision making in response to student assessment outcomes as one of the core school leader behaviors. In recent years, rising expectations from accountability policies and related assessment practices have myriad implications for school districts, specifically in the areas of…

Since the passage of No Child Left Behind, large-scale assessments have come to play a central role in federal and state education accountability systems. Teachers and parents have expressed a number of concerns about their state testing programs, such as too much time devoted to testing and the high-stakes use of testing for teacher evaluation.…

Deficient urban schooling remains one of America's most pressing--and stubborn--public policy problems. This important new book details and evaluates a radical and promising new approach to K-12 education reform. "Strife and Progress" explains for a broad audience the "portfolio strategy" for providing urban education--its…

In late 2012, both the second edition of the "Geography for Life: National Geography Standards" and the National Science Foundation-funded "Road Map for Geography Education Project" reports were released; the former document describes the conceptual goals for K-12 geography education, and the latter, a route to coordinating reform efforts to…

A new generation of Hispanic students are at risk due to inadequacies in our educational system. The inadequacies which include lack of prepared teachers and misuse of testing and assessment procedures impact special education programs, in particular, when one examines practices relative to Latino students in the area of learning disabilities. The…

After more than a decade (and four years behind schedule) Congress finally seems ready to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. For years, critics have complained that the law's focus on test scores offers far too narrow a picture for judging school quality. There is also concern that the "adequate yearly progress," or…

There has been little data collected on how much testing actually goes on in America's schools and how the results are used. So in the Spring of 2014, the Council staff developed and launched a survey of assessment practices. This report presents the findings from that survey and subsequent Council analysis and review of the data. It also offers…

Curriculum criticism, an alternative to traditional modes of educational inquiry, encourages researchers and evaluators to respect the unique and non-replicable qualities of school training. It assumes an analogy between the curriculum (as lived-in experience) and a work of art (which offers an immediate experience to viewers). The curriculum…

Seven educators express their opinions on the types of research and evaluation efforts currently needed in music education. (SJL)

This paper discusses finding new approaches to personnel evaluation, learning to handle special problems that arise, and calculating prospects for program success. Obstacles to an effective evaluation program, which the paper discusses and diagrams, include diverse or conflicting expectations, time drain, negative attitudes, lack of relevancy,…

The author sets out three reasons for a school to engage in a self-evaluation: social, economic, and professional accountability. From this, he indicates the different forms such an evaluation might take in practice. (Author/SJL)

This guide is designed as a resource for leaders and evaluators of K-12 online learning programs. In this guide, the term "online learning" is used to refer to a range of education programs and resources in the K-12 arena, including distance learning courses offered by universities, private providers, or teachers at other schools;…