Research suggests that students who participate in formative assessment perform better on measures of academic achievement than students who do not. To raise school and systematic performance, teachers need access to high-quality, rigorous tools designed to provide timely and individualized feedback for student learning. According to a report…

Ohio is committed to supporting an education system that prioritizes the language and literacy development of all learners, aligned with the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce's key priorities: literacy, accelerating learning, workforce readiness, and student wellness. In 2023, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine launched the ReadOhio initiative, a…

Change is a constant. At the same time, change can be hard for everyone involved. How do change leaders do it well? In this research study, I explored the planning and execution of state-level change initiatives within the Texas Education Agency's (TEA) strategic plan. I designed my study to identify and uncover the strategies change initiative…

States continue to work to implement statewide accountability systems; publicly report extensive information on State and local report cards, as required under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA); and provide additional resources to schools designated for support and improvement. These systems are vital for improving outcomes…

After a review of AIR's policy review of fall 2017 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan submissions, and then a scan of the most current ESSA plans for each state, this table serves as a reference with most up-to-date information on each state's exit criteria for those schools requiring support. While CSI exit criteria is provided for all…

The purpose of this paper is to describe a state-wide process used to determine which Teaching Works High Leverage Practices (Ball, 2016) pre-service teachers could be expected to implement at a proficient level by the completion of their preparation program (Initial HLPs), followed by two sets of high leverage practices novice teachers could…

Over the past several years, states across the nation have seen a decline in the number of classroom teachers remaining in the profession. In November 2022, the Tennessee Department of Education launched work to begin a statewide Tennessee Teacher Retention Listening Tour to engage with Tennessee teachers across the state, hear their lived…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) offers states increased flexibility in how they identify, rank, label, and support underperforming schools. Initial reviews of state ESSA plans, however, suggest that identification and labeling policies have remained relatively unchanged. In this study, we analyze all state ESSA plans to systematically…

Do employees at public colleges and universities have better retirement benefits than K-12 employees? This is the central question in the new report "Choice and Quality Among Retirement Plans for Educators." To answer this question, we evaluate the quality of higher education and K-12 retirement plans using five key variables: (1)…

A map created from data compiled by Isabela Schettino and Katie Radvany at the Reimagining Education: Teaching and Learning in Racially Diverse Schools Summer Institute (held at Teachers College, Columbia University, and directed by Amy Stuart Wells) shows which states have included references to culturally responsive teaching practices in the…

On March 13, 2017, the United States Department of Education (USED) released a revised template for the Consolidated State Plan under section 8302 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The purpose of the Consolidated State Plan is to provide stakeholders with quality,…

Using unique statewide panel data from Tennessee, we describe instructional coach (IC) and teacher peer observer (TPO) distributions in terms of their teaching expertise and observable school and district characteristics. The evidence suggests ICs are more likely to work in districts with lower-performing teachers while working in schools with…

Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), states are responsible for setting the minimum number of students needed to form a student subgroup for federal accountability and reporting purposes. This required student subgroup size is commonly referred to as the state-set "n-size." The accountability n-size affects action by influencing…

Three years after the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), Patrick McGuinn reviews how the U.S. Department of Education has managed the approval process for state accountability plans, how state plans are shaping up as a result of their newfound flexibility, and what implementation challenges have emerged. States have required…

Purpose: Schools across the predominately rural state of West Virginia are experiencing widespread teacher shortages, though recruitment and retention difficulties are unevenly distributed across place. Using spatial in/justice as our framework, we explore how principals define place, how place influences principal perceptions of teacher…