This paper explores the growing importance of measures of progress in judgements of schools' effectiveness in England, with a focus on the role of the early years (settings for children aged 2-5) in providing data for these measures. Qualitative data from a research project involving three diverse school-based and pre-compulsory early years…

Historically, for a period of a hundred years or more from the 1860s to the 1960s, assessment developed as an educational technology for selecting and certificating small numbers of individual students. This process was largely focused on excluding the majority. Over the last 30-40 years, the focus and purpose of assessment has changed. The…

In the current educational climate of testing and accountability, many elementary teachers find they lack adequate time and confidence to enact reform-based science teaching due to pressure to perform in reading and mathematics. With this tension in mind, we explore the phenomenon of elementary teacher specialisation in comparison to the…

More than 6,000 charter schools exist in the United States, and of these 120 are Montessori charter schools. When studying charter school practices, researchers often examine issues such as performance accountability measures and effectiveness of charter school curricula. In doing so, the outcomes often overlook the challenges for teachers as they…

Since 1992, the UK Government has published so-called "school league tables" summarising the average General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) "attainment" and "progress" made by pupils in each state-funded secondary school in England. While the headline measure of school attainment has remained the percentage…

Fluid "systems of assessment" increase college and career readiness for all students, create a more equitable PK-16 school-to-work transition, and foster collaboration across stakeholders. This study explores how a local comprehensive assessment system (CAS) offers a mechanism for matching high school graduation requirements with…

Purpose: Four purposes were present in this journal-ready dissertation. The first purpose was to examine the degree to which the percentage of beginning teachers in traditionally configured elementary, middle, and secondary Texas schools differed as a function of two distinction designations (i.e., Academic Achievement in Reading/English Language…

The civic education policy framework and gap analysis tool are intended to guide state leaders as they address the complexities of preparing students for college, career and civic life. They allow for adaptation to state- and site-specific circumstances and may be adopted in whole or in piecemeal fashion, according to states' individual…

Every student deserves an education that prepares him or her for lifelong learning, success in the world of work, and participation in representative government. Unfortunately, far too many students are not receiving the high-quality educational experiences needed to help them reach these goals. Meaningful progress toward equity in education does…

Data has played an important role in England's recent school improvement journey. The evolution of the approach has not been perfect but the National Pupil Database has become a vital tool for health checking the education system, driving accountability, directing education policymaking, and tracking the educational attainment of key vulnerable…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the leadership behavior of principals and selected academic and non-academic institutional factors. The purpose was also to examine the predictability of principals' leadership behaviors using selected academic and non-academic institutional factors. More specifically, this study is…

This technical report is one of a series of four technical reports that describe the results of a study comparing eight alternative models for estimating school academic achievement using data from the Arizona, North Carolina, Oregon, and Pennsylvania accountability systems. The purpose of these reports was to evaluate a broad range of models…

This technical report is one of a series of four technical reports that describe the results of a study comparing eight alternative models for estimating school academic achievement using data from the Arizona, North Carolina, Oregon, and Pennsylvania accountability systems. The purpose of these reports was to evaluate a broad range of models…

Response to Intervention (RTI) is a multi-tiered approach to help struggling learners, but RTI is not federally or state funded. This poses a unique and overlooked need for supporting educators with RTI to close the achievement gap for at-risk populations. In this study, a mixed-methods, convergent parallel design was used to examine RTI…

In response to the school accountability movement and the move toward market-oriented education policies in recent decades, many schools and districts have felt increased pressure to find effective ways to boost student achievement. However, many districts--largely those serving low income black and hispanic students in urban settings--have still…