Despite efforts of both administration and faculty, the intent and the execution of new curricular initiatives are not always in alignment. To understand how the declaration of a campus-wide general education initiative was being implemented, this article combines analyses of syllabi and courses from across disciplines. In an initial review, the…

This brief provides analysis of federal policy changes needed toward a long-range vision to transform education and ensure our nation's education systems prepare all students with the skills necessary to achieve success, contribute to their communities and advance society. Our policy priorities are intentionally constructed to support…

Virginia faces a future in which higher education will play an increasingly important role. Virginians will need deeper and broader knowledge and skills to be engaged, productive participants in our evolving Commonwealth and its economy. At the same time, the demographics of the emerging generation are changing, as an increasing share of…

Each year a significant number of aspiring elementary teachers, having successfully completed their formal preparation, are still unable to become licensed professionals. That's because an alarming number of candidates fail their licensing tests, far surpassing the failure rate for other professions' entry tests, bar exams, and boards. The fact…

The primary mechanism for ensuring students with disabilities receive the right educational content and rigor at the right moment in their education is the individualized education program (IEP). This document, "Ensuring an Equitable Opportunity: Providing a High-Quality Education for Students with Disabilities," details policy and…

For years, researchers have been working in school districts conducting studies that produce findings. Because educational research and the practice of education are centered in very different institutions with different expectations, incentives, and cultures, the connections have been tenuous at best. Meanwhile, there is increasing demand for…

In each issue of "JSD," Joellen Killion explores a recent research study to help practitioners understand the impact of particular professional learning practices on student outcomes. In this issue, she describes Z. Kisa and R. Correnti's 2015 longitudinal study of fidelity of implementation of principles of reform-aligned professional…

An auxiliary and potentially powerful source of practitioners' knowledge, skills, and dispositions can come from participation in research-practice partnerships. Research-practice partnerships link researchers, usually faculty at institutions of higher education, with practitioners working in schools, district central offices, county offices, or…

Recently, the State of California committed nearly one billion dollars to the development of career and technical education (CTE) pathways that lead to locally relevant, high-growth, high-demand careers. This investment represents a pivot from relatively disjointed approaches to CTE in high schools and community colleges, and reflects an…

In recent years, external pressures on higher education institutions, including uncertain funding, rising cost of operations, a hyper-competitive environment, and changing student demographics have created new challenges for colleges and universities to respond to as the economic, technological, and political landscape around them change with…

A successful K-12 educational system requires a complementary system of teacher preparation that is aligned with the needs of the K-12 community and provides a high-quality, diverse teacher workforce in numbers matching the current and future demands of the K-12 educational system. This brief provides evidence of the challenges that Delaware faces…

In this practice brief, we describe several current examples of approaches that are aimed at improving outcomes for students entering high school. Additionally, we present strategies to disrupt the negative trajectory for students with EBD, who seldom receive coordinated, individualized supports during the critical transition from middle to high…

Research has identified a number of problems limiting the implementation of content standards in the classroom. Curriculum materials may be among the most important influences on teachers' instruction. As new standards roll out, there is skepticism about the alignment of "Common Core--aligned" curriculum materials to the standards. This…

This article emerges from work undertaken with leaders from a local authority who took part in a programme entitled "Advanced Leadership in Integrated Children's Services Environment" or ALICSE programme. The aim of this course was to engage leaders and managers in thinking differently about their roles and to consider how they could…

This article uses data from a large-scale assessment program to illustrate the potential issue of range restriction with the Bookmark method in the context of trying to set cut scores to closely align with a set of college and career readiness benchmarks. Analyses indicated that range restriction issues existed across different response…